


Wings and Change

by Paladin_Willa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Lance are Siblings, Altean Lance too!!, De-aging, Everyone has wings and can fly, GALRA KEITH!!, Manipulating, Memory Loss, Memory Tampering, Multi, Pidge goes by Katie!!, Updates Will Be Slow, codenames!!!, everything then is basically the same!, gonna be writing another fic btw, he's a halfbreed, i hope i'm doing tags right!!, i need a freakin break, i think, idk - Freeform, im messed up currently with everythin thats happenin right now, just because!, lance has blue markings that he's always thought his family put on him, lance has some insecurities!!!, may add more tags later, maybe even long pauses between chap updates for this work, the lions can change sizes, the paladins can transform into any animal dealing with their element
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2018-09-07 14:17:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 82,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8804101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paladin_Willa/pseuds/Paladin_Willa
Summary: Everyone on Earth has wings and can retract them too. Another ability they have is changing into one creature. But five people on Earth can change into any creature that's close to the element they themselves are close to. Those five are Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Keith and Pidge. They come across the Castle and discover quite a few things, like the lions can change sizes, Lance is actually an altean and a few other things.Basically, everything is the same but things are added, lance is altean, the lions change sizes, keith's galra and they have wings. it won't change much in the show. :)  I lied. things are gonna be changed. Especially in season 2, i don't like how Lance and Hunk in season 2 arent seen really and have no development or even importance. so ya. :)ON INDEFINITE HOLD! Because of the Klance Fandom being so harsh, it's making it hard for me to continue writting this AU that I love to bits. I'll be doing the same thing like with my fic 'The Assassin' in which if I get motivated, this will be updated. plz be patient. Love, Willa <3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I got this idea from a dream I had that I remembered some points from it. Also, this will take a while to update depending on how much access I have to Netflix, and some lines will be changed just because I will guess on some and others for plot, but majority like 90% will be the same. Basically everything is the same except now the lions can shrink down when not in fight and simply act cat-ish and hang with their paladins. And the people simply everyone has wings. I’ll explain more down below.
> 
> If you have questions contact me on either:
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: Paladin Willa @katie_prindle!

 Everyone on Earth has wings. But some can retract those wings to change them to something that goes with where they are, like if they’re at the beach, in the mountains, desert or wherever to survive. They usually able to change into one animal that pertains to the element they attract to most, like if they prefer water or fire. Then some are special and can change into many types of animals that deal with that element. And then there are a few that can change into all animals. Those people are rare,  and they usually hide that ability since many would hound them to get into their personal life or others would wish to cause them harm for those abilities.

Lance looks back at his crew briefly as he flies the simulator down closer to the planet. “Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Begin descent to Kerberos for mission,” he said and the ship shuddered as it went down and Hunk moaned as his motion sickness reared its head.

“Lance, can you keep this thing straight?” he asked and Lance shrugs, his feathers ruffling slightly as they moved against the seats back from the hole in it to allow room for their wings.

“Relax, Hunk, I’m just getting a feel for the stick. Not like I did this,” he then moved the stick forward slightly just to tease his friend before straightening out as Hunk groaned.

“Lance!” Hunk said and Lance chuckled slightly.

“You’re fine, bud,” Lance said and then a beep sounded out.

“We’ve picked up a distress beacon!” Pidge called out and Lance started pressing buttons preparing the ship before looking back at his crew again taking in their wings as well since no matter how much he sees them, they still amaze him. Pidge’s wings were a light brown like their hair but had darker brown and white feathers spaced at random on their wings, reminding Lance of the sand. But the most interesting thing, on the underside that faced Pidge’s back, those feathers had a slight green tint to them, almost not there but still seen when a light shone on it just right.

Hunk’s wings were black like his hair too. But then as it goes down it transitions to a deep brown to a lighter brown. On the inside of his own wings like Pidge’s, curiously, they had a color to them that didn’t go with the rest of his wings coloring. On the inside, it was a golden like coloring, like a light brown but it was faint too, only seen in certain lighting. Though they both agreed that Lance’s own wings were unique since his weren’t the color of his hair really.

At his wings tips they were his cocoa brown hair before transitioning quickly to a light brown with white in random places then at the bottom his wings were white. Then on the inside of his, there was a blue tint, one that was seen easily. Closer to the inside too, near the place where his wings connected to his shoulder blades, the feathers were a deep red coloring, not easily seen unless close up. “All right, look alive, team! Pidge, track coordinates,” he said and Pidge turned back to face his station.

“Copy,” he said and the ship soon shuddered around them.

“Knock it off, Lance! Please!” Hunk shouted and Lance shook his head slightly as a computer beeped.

“This is on you, buddy. We’ve got a hydraulic stabilizer out,” he said looking back at Hunk, looking with sympathy as Hunk looked awful. Hunk then pulled at the data pad on an extendable arm as the ship rumbled again and his mouth went into a frown.

“Oh no,” Hunk whispered as nausea went through his body.

“Hunk, buddy. Keep it in and fix it. You can deal with….that, later,” he said and he heard Hunk moving around as he tried to keep the ship stable.

“I lost contact. The shaking is interfering with our sensors,” Pidge called out.

“Come on, Hunk!” he shouted, getting anxious.

“It's not responding,” he said with a groan before unbuckling his harness. He then went over to the gearbox and Lance looked forward as a low beep came off and the ship pinpointed the ship they were going to rescue.

“Nevermind. There she blows. Preparing for approach on visual,” Lance said looking at the screen which showed the ship in the distance.

“I don’t think that’s advisable with our current mechanical and gastrointestinal issues,” he said as Hunk groaned again.

“Agreed,” Hunk said.

“Stop worrying. The ship can take it as long as we take it smooth. And it’ll be easier for Hunk to fix when we aren’t shaking around if we land down,” he said turning slightly to look at Pidge from the corner of his eye. “Hail down to them and tell them their ride is here, Pidge,” he said and he heard Pidge unstrapping from their harness.

“Attention lunar vessel--Waah!” Pidge yelled out as he fell from his chair as the ship shook, banging his head painfully on the ground. His wings fluffed up in agitation and pain.

“Pidge, what are you doing? You know you're not supposed to take the harness off. Once we land, we’ll get something for your head. Hunk, stop the shaking please,” Lance said turning slightly to look at the two, his wings twitched slightly, wanting to wrap around Pidge comfortingly but he resisted knowing it would be awkward. The ship shook again and they both heard Hunk puck, making Lance sigh.

“Attention lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extractions after fixing our hydraulic stabilizer that is,” he said.

“They’re going under and we need to get there,” he said making the craft go down.

“Look out for that overhang!” Pidge called.

“No worries. I’m heading over it,” he said adjusting so that they would go over it but the ship shook, causing the ship to tilt. The whole ship rocked dangerously causing their heads to snap around.

“We lost a wing!” Hunk called and Lance sighed at the news.

“Oh man,” he muttered silently. “Hold on, this might be a rough landing!” he called back as the system beeped the warning of a lost wing. He moved so the controls were turned far to the left and the ship tilted to the right. The ship shook still, trying to turn left but Lance kept a firm grip but soon he lost it and the ship crashed.

“ _Simulation failed_ ,” the computer called out as they all groaned from the crash.

“Good try,” Hunk said and Pidge gave a slight nod.

“Roll out donkeys!” Iverson called and they unstrapped and slowly stood up. They each slowly stretched their wings from inside the clear suit coverings before walking out to stand at attention in front of Iverson and the rest of their class. “Let’s see if we can’t use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students,” he continued and Lance flinched slightly at the words ‘complete failure’. He’s heard those words many times while at the Garrison even though he did exceptionally well in his studies and worked hard as a pilot. “Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator?” he asked of everyone.

All the students looked at the ground then since they knew Iverson hated Lance and pointed out every mistake he ever made just because his star student got expelled and he got this average pilot. They knew Lance was a good pilot, and his team was good as well, they just had to get better being a team. As Iverson continued glaring, one boy raised his hand. “The engineer pucked in the main gearbox,” he said and Iverson nodded., looking over at Hunk who everyone knew had motion sickness.

“Yes. As everyone knows, vomit is not an approved lubricant for engine systems,” Iverson said looking back at the students. Lance looked at Hunk out of the corner of his eye and saw how Hunk’s wings drooped down so that the tips were bent and Lance felt bad for him.. “What else?”

“The com spec removed his safety harness,” a girl said manor of factly, not caring if she was cold to the new fighter crew.

“Correct. And worst of all, the whole jump they’re arguing with each other,” Iverson said turning back to the three, who all had their wings drooped against the ground. Lance though was slightly bitter that Iverson always pointed out his mistakes and made it a big deal and not others. When someone else in their class made a mistake, he didn’t announce it to the whole class and make the student feel like an outside. Everyone knew this and felt bad for Lance. “Heck, if you’re going to be this bad individually, you’d better at least be able to work as a team!” he shouted.

“Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astroexplorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission,” he said, his tall, black wings going up, and Pidge’s wings immediately went up and bristled.

“That’s not true, sir!” Pidge shouted and Lance looked down at his teammate. That was the seventh time Pidge had gotten angry when someone mentioned the Kerberos Mission.

“What did you say?” Iverson demanded, wings bristling in anger, and Lance decided to distract Iverson from it and covered Pidge’s mouth with his hand.

“Sorry, sir. I think he hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken,” he said hastily.

“I hope I don’t need to remind you that the only reason you’re here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out,” he said stepping forward toward Lance, his hatred visible. “Don’t follow in his footsteps,” he finished and Lance bristled. Everyone always compared him to Keith and said how he wasn’t as good. He was sick and tired of being compared to a guy that no longer went to the Garrison. Lance clenched his teeth to bury his anger and worry but his worry at what will happen to him showed on his face. “Next!” Iverson barked and the next three cadets in spacesuits stepped forward, each of them giving the discouraged team sympathetic glances.

**XXX**

“Lights out in five! Everyone back to their dorms, now,” Iverson called walking through the halls and both Lance and Hunk poked their heads out from behind a wall and pillar.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Hunk said, his hands on Lance’s shoulders.

“You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team. We’re going to grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up and do some team bonding stuff--” Lance said and Hunk interrupted as the lights went out.

“I’m just saying this here, right now, on the record. This is a bad idea,” Hunk said and Lance waved them ahead and they started running, wings held still to prevent any noise. They soon came to the hall where there was a window looking into the lounge for instructors.

“Ok, we need to pull in our wings,” he said and closed his eyes, willing his wings to retract so they could sneak out. “And, you know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don’t have any sense of adventure,” he continued looking from the lounges window corner into the room.

“All of your little adventures end up with me in the principal's office,” Hunk said. Lance then waved and they snuck under the window. Once they got past they ran forward until they reached a hall and Lance motioned to the side where there were two trash cans they could hide in. They retracted their wings again and went into the cans, pulling the tops off right as they heard footsteps.

“L-5 north all clear,” the guard said once he went through the hall and past the two in the trash cans. Once the footsteps retreated, both Lance and Hunk raised the covers and looked out. Lance then popped the cans lid off and jumped out with a grunt and Hunk soon followed. Hunk grunted as he got stuck in the can but yelled out slightly as the can fell over. Hunk then stood up once he got out.

“I’m fine,” he said and they walked toward Pidge’s door. They heard a hiss and went into the hall by the door and hid. Pidge came out of his room and closed the door before running down the hall.

“Where is he going?” Lance asked, brows furrowed in thought. He then went after Pidge with Hunk behind him. They soon arrived on the roof and Pidge was up there and had computers around her that weren’t Garrison tech. “You come here to rock out?” he asked pulling his headphone away from his ear causing Pidge to gasp, flailing slightly before regaining his composure.

“Oh, Lance, Hunk,” he said arms going between his crossed legs like he’s seen some girls do. “No, um, just looking at the stars,” he said and Lance hummed.

“So, where’d you get this stuff? It isn’t Garrison tech,” he said and Pidge tilted his head and smirked.

“I built it,” he said as Hunk moved forward to look at the built tech.

“You built all of this?” Hunk asked, awe in his voice.

“Stop it!” Pidge said smacking Hunk’s hand away. “With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system,” he said proudly.

“That right? All the way to Kerberos?” he asked and smirked when Pidge made a small noise of agreement looking down. “You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up,” Lance continued. “What’s your deal?” he asked finally and then thought for a moment. “Wait, are the Holt’s your family?”

“Second warning, Hunk!” Pidge snarled as Hunk started fiddling with a dish who then groaned. “And yes. My dad and brother were on the ship. I broke into Iverson’s office before I came here and found that they didn’t crash,” he said.

“So then that means you’re Katie! I’ve heard Matt talking about you a lot in the halls,” Lance said and Pidge nodded her head. “Ok, we need to be honest with each other if we’re ever going to bond as a team, alright?” he asked and Pidge nodded.

“Alright,” she started, her wings going up and stretching back. “The world as you know it is about to change,” she said turning to face him again. “The Kerberos Mission wasn’t lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake. Stop touching my equipment!” Pidge-Katie- shouted turning to face Hunk and he groaned while falling onto his side, her wings up in agitation as she had her hands on her knees. “So, I’ve been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter,” she turned to them again, her expression unreadable.

“Whoa. What? Aliens?” Hunk asked.

“Okay, you sure your not picking up some country’s radio frequency?” Lance asked willing to keep his horizons open to the fact that his hero may actually still be alive.

“I’m sure. The words are not of any on Earth. Though I can understand one word they keep repeating, ‘Voltron’,” she said pulling up a notebook with little doodles and notes, tapping above the word Voltron on the page with the robot like drawing. “And tonight, it’s going crazier than I have ever heard it,” she continued lowering the notebook slightly.

“How crazy?” Lance asked, his wings up showing his piqued interest. Hunk looked curious as well but his wings were still a bit droopy from the scolding from Pidge-Katie.

“ _Attention students_ ,” Iverson’s voice came alive over the speakers as an alarm went off too. “ _This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner,_ ” he said and the three looked at each other. “ _Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice,_ ” he said, the speakers then going quiet with just the alarm going off quietly. Hunk stood up and looked to the side.

“What’s going on? Is that a meteor?” he asked pointing up and they followed his arm. An object was coming down causing the air around it to appear red and orange. “A very, very big meteor?” Hunk asked slightly confused. Pidge then grabbed her binoculars and held them up to examine it.

“It’s a ship,” she said and then yelped when Lance grabbed them from her to look, her wings whacking him from going up in shock but he didn’t care.

“Holy crow!” he shouted. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing! That’s not one of ours,” he said lowering the binoculars down as the ship came closer.

“No. It’s one of theirs,” she said and they watched as it went out into the desert.

“So, wait. There really are aliens out there?” Hunk asked as the ship crashed. A new alarm went off and they saw Garrison vehicles lighting up and then leaving. Lance turned back to pidge who was packing up her stuff quickly before looking at them.

“We’ve got to see that ship!” she said holding onto her bag as she spread her wings out.

“Hunk, come on!” Lance said spreading his own wings and then taking off toward the vehicles but staying a good distance behind so they wouldn’t get caught. Pidge and Hunk were on either side of him as they flew through the air and Lance hasn’t felt more alive since he was home and discovered he transform into any animal that deals with water. But that liveliness he felt dulled a little as he remembered that his family always told him to keep it hidden so no one hounded him or them.

He understood their reasoning but that didn’t stop the fact that they were nervous for themselves and the fact that his younger brother hated him. He was lucky, though, when he met Hunk when he was an older kid, barely 11, he discovered that the big kid could also change into any animal that is on open land. They had transformed in secret with only his older sister, Lyla knowing about it since she’d make sure they knew when someone was coming and often played with them.

They soon arrived on a cliff that overlooked the camp that the Garrison had put up fast and Pidge started setting out their own equipment. Hunk stood back and looked around, making sure no one stumbled upon their makeshift camp and Lance had the binoculars and looked into the camp. “Whoa! What the heck is that thing?” Lance asked looking at the ship. “Alien ship. Man, we’ll never get past all of those guards to get a look,” he said looking around the makeshift camp the Garrison has and seeing all of the guards patrolling. He lowered the binoculars as he talked and Hunk then patted his shoulder.

“Aw, man. Yeah, I guess there’s nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?” Hunk said a bit hopefully.

“Wait. They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!” Pidge said making it so everyone can hear as the two of them looked over her shoulder.

“ _Hey! What are you doing?_ ” Shiro demanded from the table he was strapped to and they saw the scar across his nose and the tuft of his hair was white. His wings were also tied to the table and they saw how the tops of his wings which used to be black were now stark white.

“ _Calm down, Shiro,_ ” Iverson’s voice came up and Lance’s eyes widened, surprised to hear Iverson was there. “ _We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests,_ ” Iverson continued and Shiro struggled a bit.  
“ _You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds!_ ” Shiro then grunted as he looked between the two trying to get free. “ _Aliens are coming!_ ” he shouted.

“Shiro? The pilot for the Kerberos Mission. That guy is my hero!” Lance said leaning back slightly as Hunk looked on with furrowed brows.

“Guess he’s not dead in space after all,” Hunk said.

“Where’s the rest of the crew?” Pidge asked and Lance placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, wings stretching until they covered her like a hug. She looked back at him and nodded thanks, leaning slightly into the wing hug.

“ _Do you know how long you’ve been gone?_ ” Iverson asked and Shiro moved his head again.

“ _I don’t know. Months? Years? Look, there’s no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They’re probably on their way,_ ” he said and one of the men moved away and the other moved around Shiro’s head as he struggled more to get free. “ _They’ll destroy us. We have to find Voltron,_ ” he continued. Lance and Hunk looked at each other in shock as Pidge shoot up straight.

“Voltron!” she said.

“ _Sir, take a look at this,_ ” a scientist said and they all looked back at the screen, wings rigid behind them. “ _It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic,_ ” the man continued looking away from the arm and back to who they assumed was Iverson.

“ _Put him under until we know what that thing can do,_ ” Iverson ordered and Shiro started struggling more shouting protests.

“ _No! Don’t put me under! No! There’s no time!_ ” he shouted as a scientist came forward with a device.

“They didn’t even ask about the rest of the crew,” Pidge said.

“We’ll help you find them. If Shiro is alive, then there’s a good chance your family is too,” Lance said and Pidge nodded, looking at him with thanks before turning back to the screen. “And what are they doing? He’s a legend here. They’re not even gonna listen to him?” Lance asked.

“We have to get him out,” Pidge said and Lance nodded agreement.

“I hate to be the voice of reason, always, but weren’t we watching on the TV because there is no way to get past the guards?” Hunk asked pointing down to the camp.

“That was before we were properly motivated. We’ve just gotta think. Could we tunnel in?” Lance said.

“Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs,” Pidge supplied and looked over at Hunk when he started to talk.

“Or we dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary--little late night snack,” Hunk said moving his hands as he talked.

“No. What we need is a distraction,” Lance said and soon they all heard explosions and screamed in surprise. Hunk had his hands on his head, gripping his hair.

“Is that the aliens? Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!” Hunk said rapidly.

“No, those explosions were a distraction, for him,” Pidge said looking to the side pointing to a blue dot moving. “The Garrison is headed toward the blast and he’s sneaking in from the other side,” she explained and Lance pointed the binoculars at it.

“No way!” Lance cried out as he saw the figure jumping off the hoverbike, his raven black wings up in ready, the tips in light showing off the deep red feathers. He then looked at the head and saw the hairstyle that the person with those wings only had. “Oh, he is not going to beat us,” Lance growled out to the figure. “That guy always one-upping me and making everyone hate me,” he said lowering the binoculars and getting up spreading his wings.

“Who is it?” Hunk asked.

“Keith!” Lance said the name like a curse as Pidge quickly packed everything.

“Who?” Pidge asked as Hunk talked.

“Are you sure?” Hunk asked running after Lance with Pidge behind as they jumped off the cliff allowing the wind to catch their outstretched wings.

“Oh, I’d recognize that mullet and those wings anywhere!” Lance called.

“Really?” Pidge called out also jumping off the cliff.

**XXX**

Keith ran down the tube and stopped at the door, eyes glittering with a hatred as the door hissed open and he saw Shiro strapped to the table. His wings went up in fury as the scientists finally noticed him. “Hey!” they shouted and he got ready. He flew forward and punched one scientist and then hit the other, both flying back and ramming into stuff, their wings curling around them to protect them as much as possible. The final scientist came forward and Keith twisted, raising his foot and kicking him in the head causing the man to spin and hit the table.

He then ran over to the table jumping over the unconscious man and stopped next to Shiro. Keith pulled down the scarf that was over his lower face and looked with worry at Shiro’s unconscious face. His eyes glittered with worry and concern as he looked down, grabbing Shiro’s chin gently and moving his face to face him, making Shiro groan slightly. “Shiro?” Keith asked quietly, emotion in his voice. He then looked across Shiro and made took his dagger out and cut the straps holding Shiro.

He then holstered the dagger and pulled one of Shiro’s arms across his shoulders, using his wings to lift up Shiro’s own wings to help lift him. “Nope. No you don’t, I’m saving Shiro,” Lance called out and Keith looked up in confusion as Lance, Pidge and Hunk came in. Lance walked forward and pushed the table away to grab Shiro’s other arm and pulled it across his own shoulders. He then used his wings to go under Shiro’s and it bumped Keith’s wings making him pull them back.

“Who are you?” Keith asked not fully remembering two of them but remembered Pidge. But the two boys looked familiar to Keith.

“Who am I? Uh, the name's Lance,” he said looking at Keith in disbelief. “We were in the same class at the Garrison,” he continued when Keith continued to look on in confusion.

“Really? Are you an engineer?” he asked. He knew one of the two was an engineer but didn’t remember which.

“No, I’m a pilot! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck,” he said and Keith remembered.

“Oh, wait. I remember you. You’re a cargo pilot,” he said and Lance gave a little scoff.

“Well, not anymore. I’m fighter class now, thanks to you washing out. As much good as it did me,” Lance whispered the last part bitterly and Keith heard the sentence with his good hearing, questioning what it meant.

“Well, congratulations,” he said instead, feeling like right then wasn’t the right time or place to ask what he meant. They then went out in silence and made their slow way back to the hoverbike with Hunk and Pidge watching the Garrison.

“Oh man. They’re coming back and they do not look happy,” Hunk called back toward them. “We’ve got to go,” he said running toward the bike with Pidge. “Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” he asked coming up beside the two as Pidge climbed on. Keith let go of Shiro to get onto the seat and grabbed the controls as Lance got Shiro up with Pidge helping. Hunk then climbed on making the thing go back and everyone going up before landing back onto the bike.

“Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” Pidge yelled as Keith looked back at them.

“No,” Keith said simply as the Garrison vehicles and guards came back, their lights on them. Keith then flipped a switch and twisted the handle, bringing the bike to life under them and turned the bike around. As the bike flew across the ground, the back part slowly went up and Lance pushed Shiro up to Pidge.

“Why am I holding this guy?” she asked.

“Hey we did all fit,” Hunk said.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Lance asked looking back.

“We could toss out some non-essential weight,” Keith suggested.

“Oh, right!” Lance said looking around as he kept a hand on Shiro to help make sure Pidge didn’t drop him. “Okay, so that was an insult. I get it,” Lance said making sure to keep his wings cinched shut so he doesn’t get pulled away by the wind. The winds hit them hard, trying to open their wings but they stubbornly kept them shut.

“Big man, lean left,” Keith said and Hunk leaned over also moving his wings so that the wind caught them and aided in turning them. Hunk then slowly came out of the lean, moving his wings to that they didn’t catch any wind. He looked over his shoulder as he heard crashes and saw that a couple vehicles were gone.

“Aw man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! No, no. He’s fine,” Hunk said looking forward again.

“Big man, lean right!” Keith yelled out and Hunk did the same thing as last time but to the right. They went off a cliff and they all screamed before stopping as they landed. Another vehicle crashed and only one remained as they continued forward.

“G-g-guys?” Hunk asked and Pidge and Lance looked at him. “Is that a cliff up ahead?” he asked and they all looked forward.

“Oh, no, no, no!” Lance shouted.

“Yup,” Keith replied leaning forward as Lance continued to protest loudly before they all went over the cliff and everyone screamed in fright.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they discover the lion and go to Arus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chap 2 out!! Please tell me what you think! And, in this we see how Lance is altean but doesn’t know\remember it!! Ok, also, I realized how I kinda screwed myself and said Lance was little so this would be hard, but I changed it, he was now an eleven year old when he met Hunk! So, please just roll with it. also, i’m on winter break so i should be able to do more updating, key word should. But don’t be upset if it proves difficult to. ok, i am having some craziness goin on like figuring out when i’m moving. So ya, fun. Ok back to the story!
> 
> Remember, if you have any questions you can ask me on tumblr, @paladinwilla, or twitter, Paladin Willa @katie_prindle. I’ll also post updates there as well!

 

_A face with dark skin, white, cloud-like hair, with striking blue/pink eyes and this marking like crescent moons under her eyes at the corner like his own blue ones but pink, formed in front of him. Behind her were wings white like her hair and had red, blue, black, green, and yellow feathers placed randomly so that it looked like the Opal stone. She looked familiar to Lance but he couldn’t figure out why. She looked at him fondly and held a hand out as she laughed, her laugh was like bells. The girl looked young, about thirteen._

_“Come on Lance, fathers waiting!” she said grabbing his small hand and dragged him along before picking him up. “It’s your birthday! Don’t want to keep him waiting do you?” she asked and he shook his head. “Happy 6th birthday,” she said as they continued walking._

_“Will my friends be here, ‘llura?” he asked as they continued through halls, he still had trouble saying his sister's name. Allura looked down at him fondly and nodded._

_“Yup, father made sure to have them come,” she said as they continued down another hall and Lance realized they were heading to the Lion’s hangers._

_“‘Llura?” Lance started and Allura looked down, head tilted in question. “Why are heading to the Lion’s bay?” he asked and Allura smiled at him._

_“Well, the Paladin’s wanted to have the Lion’s celebrate your birthday too since they talked nonstop about it,” she said fondly, remembering when her friend Tsrra Anura, the Red Paladin, had told her how her Lion wanted to celebrate Lance’s birthday along with Alfor’s Yellow Lion and Tsrra’s mate, Ilek, the Blue Paladin, and Blue._

_Lance thought about the Red and Blue Paladin’s and smiled, he liked the two very well. Tsrra came from the planet Kuyvis were everyone was cat-like. They had pointed ears that went above their heads, their pupils were slitted, fur covered them head to toe and they had tails that all varied. Ilek came from Altea and became the Blue Paladin when he had just graduated from Altea’s Guard Academy._

_Alfor was surprised just like them when they found out the Red and Blue Lions were mated but happy when the Paladin’s discovered their love for each other. He hears all the Lions faintly in the back of his mind and knows Blue is looking at Lance as a potential Paladin for when he’s older and Ilek either has to retire from age or is killed in battle. It worried Alfor, but he made sure Lance was getting all the preparation he’d need should he become the Blue Paladin, something Ilek knew even and even helped prepare._

_“Really?” Lance asked._

_“Yup, especially Yellow and Blue,” Allura confirmed getting Lance to smile brightly. They then entered the bay and all the Lion’s were there along with their Paladins. Everyone shouted and Lance looked around from his perch on Allura’s hip and saw his father beside the Black Paladin who was tall and purple with big ears and lines going down his face, over his eyes and down to his jaw, Zarkon, who smiled at him._

**XXX**

Lance gasped awake wondering what his dream meant and why it felt familiar, like a memory. This isn’t new to Lance to have a strange dream but this time, the woman said his name and he said hers. He felt he should remember that time but when he tried, he couldn’t place his finger on it. Never had his dreams had he heard actual talking or seen any other face. But for some reason being in the desert and in that shack allowed him to see and hear more. His wings which had been fluffed up in shock slowly went back down.

He looked around the room warily, wondering if he woke anyone since Pidge was on the couch and Hunk was beside him on the ground. Keith was in the only room watching over Shiro. He continued looking around the small shack before deciding to go outside and get some fresh air. The sky was dark still but was slowly turning a lighter shade of blue and Lance took a deep breath to calm his frantic heartbeat. A soft breeze went by and Lance stretched his wings out to feel the breeze while touching the mark under his right eye, a mark he thought was a tattoo his biological parents gave him since he had no memory of anything before the age of eleven and a half.

From his dream, it seemed that maybe he was born with those marks and he then moved the same hand to his ear which was pointed slightly. In previous dreams, he saw people shifting their appearance, _maybe if I concentrate, I can get my true appearance_ , he thought to himself. He then closed his eyes and concentrated on letting his true form come out and he felt his body shift ever so slightly. He opened his eyes and saw he was a half inch taller, he raised a hand again and felt that his ears were pointed like an elves and he turned to the window of the shack and saw that his hair had white streaks in them and his eyes had changed a little. His pupils were a pink\purple color instead of their normal black color.

“What the cheese,” Lance muttered to himself. The fact that he changed proved he wasn’t human and an exhaustion he hadn’t felt before overcame him and his vision swam. He felt his wings going limp and started dragging him down slightly. He was swaying when he heard the door open and saw Keith flying toward him right as he fell to the ground. Before he hit, strong, warm arms caught him and he saw a face twisted in concern before everything went black.

**XXX**

Keith looked down at Lance who he laid on the couch after he caught the boy as he fell over outside. Pidge was already up and moved so Keith could place him there. After he settled Lance down Pidge-Katie asked him what was going on with Lance and Keith could only shrug saying he didn’t know, he only saw Lance’s changed eyes before he collapsed. Hunk got up soon after the two had talked and he immediately went to Lance’s side and noticed how his friend’s ears changed, how his hair had white streaks and his wings being lighter. He then gently placed a thumb on Lance’s eyelid and moved it open and his eyes widened as he let the eye close again.

“Whoa man. His pupil isn’t black anymore,” Hunk said and everyone stared intently at Lance. They all heard rustling from the bedroom and turned to see the door open to show Shiro in new clothes looking at them curiously.

“What’s going on?” he asked and they all shrugged.

“We’re not sure. I saw Lance head outside and I waited a little before going out. When I opened the door he was swaying and I caught him before he hit the ground. I…….don’t think he’s human, his ears are different and his eyes, the pupils are a pink\purple color now. I saw them before he went unconscious,” Keith explained looking at Lance again. He didn’t tell them how he felt an unexplainable worry overcome him at seeing Lance wavering. He didn’t want to say anything until he understood it himself.

“Well, let’s not assume anything yet. When he wakes up, let’s ask him, maybe he knows something,” Shiro said looking down. “I need some air,” he said after looking at his cybernetic arm. He went outside then and the three of them sat around Lance, waiting for when he would wake up. The sun was rising higher into the sky and with it, Lance started to stir. His head moved from side to side, they could see faint movement under the eyelid as Lance’s eyes moved. His eyes fluttered open and his arms jerked around as if he was trying to ward something off. “Lance!” at Hunk’s shout, Lance’s eyes snapped open, frantic looking and he shot up straight, arms up defensively. Keith moved forward before he could think and he placed his hands on Lance’s shoulders forcing the frantic boy to look at him.

“Lance, your safe,” Keith said softly and Lance continued to look frantic but slowly calmed. His uneven breathing soon evened out and his tense wings relaxed. He hunched slightly in Keith’s arms and he looked over at Hunk who nodded and sat beside Lance, pulling him gently from Keith allowing the other to stand. “I’ll go get Shiro,” he said quietly and they all nodded. He stepped out of the shack and looked around.

Shiro was on a small rise on the ground, the sun rising to the right of them, lighting the sky a brilliant blue as it rose higher. Keith walked over to Shiro and saw Shiro was gripping his false arm. Keith stood behind Shiro and placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder and he turned slightly. “It’s good to have you back, bro,” he said and Shiro smiled and gave a small nod. They both stretched their wings and they rubbed against each other in a familiar way they did when they were younger.

“It’s good to be back,” Shiro said.

“There’s so many things happening right now. But I want to know, what happened to you? Where were you?” Keith asked and Shiro shook his head slightly.

“I wish I could tell you. My head’s still pretty scrambled. I remember being on an alien ship and I escaped somehow. It’s all a blur. But I also remember them talking about a Prince that was hidden away,” he said looking back at Keith who tilted his head. “How did you know to come save me when I crashed?” he asked.

“Lance is up Shiro, he might know some stuff, and there’s something you should see,” Keith said and Shiro nodded, following his adopted brother back into the shack where Lance and the others were waiting. Lance was still on the couch much more relaxed but still tense slightly, ready to flee should the need arise. Hunk was beside him and had his arm around the lanky boy's shoulders and Pidge was on the ground.

“It’s good to see you up, Lance,” Shiro said and Lance looked up at Shiro and he held his hand out. Lance hesitantly raised a hand, fearful of what the other might do, but seeing Shiro’s open, slightly worried face, he gripped Shiro’s hand and shook it.

“I’m Katie but can you call me Pidge, whichever you prefer,” she said and Shiro nodded.

“I’m sorry about your family Katie,” he said and she gave a small nod.

“The nervous one is Hunk,” she continued and he held a hand out to the big man. Hunk slowly moved a hand from Lance and shook Shiro’s hand before returning it to Lance’s shoulder. Shiro then turned to Lance who hunched over slightly, looking at the ground.

“Lance?” Shiro asked and Lance flinched slightly. Shiro then lowered himself to a kneeling position and reached out a hand, took Lance’s chin in his hand and raised Lance’s head. Lance allowed his head to be raised, his eyes filled with worry and his wings behind him were tense and different slightly. His wings had lightened slightly even more and on the backs, the colors of black, red, yellow and green were spaced around and there were only a few of these newly colored feathers. “Do you know what’s going on?” he asked and Lance shook his head slightly to Shiro’s question and looked away.

“Do you know anything about those markings?” Keith asked and Lance looked up. “And what caused you to be so alarmed when you woke up not long ago?” he asked gently and they all looked at him curiously and he looked down again and gave a shrug.

“I’ve had these marks for as long as I can remember, which is only to eleven and a half,” he then reached for his sleeve and pulled it up revealing lines going up in the same blue color. “I’ve also had these ones since I was younger too. But how I came to get them, I have no idea. Before that, it’s a blank. But I’d get dreams at random times and I’d just see a face or two. Before I went outside, I had such a dream but….I saw more than usual and heard a voice and had a conversation. It was weird, the woman knew my name and I knew her’s. It was like Lura or something,” he started looking up, concern in his eyes. “I’ve never had that happen before, and then I remembered from a past dream that she changed before and thought, if these are perhaps my actual memories or something, I could too and well that happened. But then an overwhelming exhaustion came over me for some reason after I saw this-” he gestured around his body, “-my true appearance, I guess. Right before I woke up this last time,” he stopped then and looked away, a fear filling his eyes.

“If it’s too much Lance, you don’t have to say,” Shiro said and Lance looked over at him.

“No, I need to say it if I don’t want it burdening me,” he said and took a deep breath. “There was a battle going on. And there was this man that I recognized. He was a knight or something, he was firing at this man in white and yellow armor. His name was Zarkon I think, he was attacking and he was in front of me. He raised a sword and prepared to attack, and then nothing, I woke up,” he said the fear in his eyes real as if he though he might see Zarkon again. Shiro looked at Lance too, eyes wide.

“Wait,” he said and everyone looked at him. “You said his name was Zarkon?” he asked and Lance nodded. “That was the man that had me captive,” he said and Lance’s own eyes widen.

“What does this mean?” Lance asked and Keith cleared his throat and they all looked at him.

“There’s something you guys might wanna see,” he said turning to a wall that was covered by a sheet. “This might help us figure out everything going on,” he continued. He had a feeling, like he could feel Lance’s fear and worry. He grabbed the sheet and pulled it down and heard a gasp.

“What have you been working on?” Shiro asked and Keith looked back at them.

“I can’t explain it, really. After being booted from the Garrison, I was kinda lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It’s like something…..some energy, was telling me to search,” he said looking at the chart again.

“For what?” Shiro asked and Keith looked at him.

“Well, I didn’t really know at the time….until I stumbled across this area,” Keith explained pointing to a circle on a map that had ‘energy source!’ scribbled on there. “It’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells of a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night,” he said then looked at Shiro. “Then you showed up. It also talked about something being unveiled--” Keith continued but was stopped as Lance gasped and they all turned.

Lance was grasping his head, eyes screwed closed and he suddenly looked up again and looked directly at the chart, more correctly, the lion carvings. “I….remember something, it dealt with a blue lion. I was something to a blue lion,” he said as the memory that came receded back into his mind. “I think this blue lion is somehow connected to everything that’s happened,” he said and they all looked back at the chart again.

“So, are the aliens you spoke of earlier coming? Like right now?” Hunk asked and Shiro sighed.

“I can’t really put it together. I remember the word ‘Voltron’. It’s some kind of weapon they’re looking for, but I don’t know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do,” Shiro said. Hunk then stood up and grabbed Pidge’s bag and grabbed a book from it that had Pidge squeaking slightly in surprise and indignation.

“Well, when I looked through Pidge’s diary because I was curious about what they talked about and I was looking for a snack in her bag, I noticed a series of repeating numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line,” he said as Pidge took her diary back.

“Frown who?” Keith asked.

“It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only this element doesn’t exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. I think I could build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter,” Hunk explained looking between everyone. “It’s pretty fascinating actually, really. The wavelength looks like this,” he then pulled a paper out of his pouch and unfolded it.

“Give me that!” Keith said grabbing the paper and he then held it up to the chart.

**XXX**

“You know, I’d say this was freaky, but considering what’s happened, it’s low on the freaky list,” Lance commented when they reached the area that looked exactly like the chart Hunk made.

“Yeah, you got that right,” Hunk agreed and then the device in his hands started beeping. “I’m getting a reading,” Hunk said, interest piqued. His wings perked up as he went ahead of Pidge who had a satellite dish of sorts that emitted a frequency meant to catch the alien metals frequency. Hunk then led the way through the canyon with Pidge right behind him and the others following behind them. As they continued through the canyon the beeping got louder and more frequent as they got closer to a giant cave that had a rocky path leading to it. They all had a look of amazement on their faces as they looked down into the cave. “Whoa.”

“Let’s get down there,” Keith said and everyone nodded agreement. Hunk gave Pidge the device and she placed it into her bag and gripped it in front of her as she stretched her wings out like everyone else. They then flew up before flying down to the cave entrance and they then entered the cave looking around in amazement.

“Whoa,” everyone muttered in shock as they looked around at the cave drawings.

“What are these?” Shiro asked as they all looked around.

“These are the lion carvings I was telling you about,” Keith said and Lance looked to the side. Something was pulling him toward it, washing him in warmth and comfort and he felt a presence in his mind. _Don’t be afraid, my pilot. You shall remember everything soon,_ a feminine voice said in his mind. His eyes widened and he looked around trying to see if he could find the person who talked. “They’re everywhere around here,” Keith continued before looking at Lance curiously. As Lance peered closely at the carving something pulled at him and he raised a hand and wiped it across the drawing displacing the dust there.

He pulled his hand back as an image of a lean man with pale skin, gray eyes, light brown hair, tall wings the same shade, and wearing armor with blue on it flashed and Lance had a feeling he knew that man. That, that man was something to him. All around the drawings on the cave lit up showing all the drawings and everyone backed up slightly. “Whoa. What?” everyone said as they backed up to each other before looking at Keith.

“They’ve never done that before,” Keith said looking around at the drawings. The ground beneath them then started glowing and crackling before collapsing and everyone yelled out as they fell through. They landed in a river of sorts and went down it into a drop all the while yelling until they reached a drop and fell into a shallow lake of sorts. Hunk landed in the water last causing a mini wave to go over everyone making them wet. Lance got to his hands and knees before leaning up and going back onto his haunches, stretching his wings out and wincing slightly. He looked up and gasped when he saw a familiar looking lion towering above him.

“They are everywhere,” someone muttered as they all looked up at the lion. The air in the cave was warm, arid almost and it was drying them pretty fast as they got out of the water and stood looking at the lion. _Come, my pilot. You will learn and remember everything you lost,_ the voice said again and Lance looked at the blue lion curiously.

“Is this it? Is this Voltron?” Pidge asked and Lance felt the presence shake her head in no.

“I….don’t think so,” Lance said and they looked at him curiously. “I hear this voice, saying no,” he continued.

“This is what’s been causing all of this crazy energy out here,” Keith said, he then walked forward and everyone followed him. “Looks to be a force field surrounding it,” he continued ahead of them and Lance had the feeling of the thing watching him. _That’s it. Bring the others, they are important, my pilot. You all have an important role that you need to fulfill,_ the voice said again and he was positive it was coming from the lion.

“Anyone else get the feeling this thing is staring at them?” Lance asked as he moved to different sides trying to shake that feeling

“Um, no,” Shiro said and Lance looked over at him. “If you feel that the eyes are following you, maybe it’s because the lion knows you perhaps,” he continued and Lance gave a hesitant nod.

“Maybe. The voice I hear, it sounds like its coming from the lion. Like she’s in my mind,” he said and they looked at him.

“She?” Keith asked curiously.

“The voice is feminine sounding,” Lance said looking up at the lion's face. Keith reached the barrier and a light flashed in the lion's eyes as if it recognized him.

“I wonder how we get through this,” Keith muttered, hands moving around on the barrier. “Maybe you can get through,” he said looking at Lance. Lance nodded hesitantly and walked forward until he was next to Keith in front of the barrier. He then raised a hand and knocked on the barrier causing the lion's eyes to glow as the barrier fell. Lance’s eyes closed as images of four other lions flying up together and then formed this bigger lion. Then an image of himself next to the man from before and this very lion popped up. They were both smiling happily and then the man picked the young version of Lance up onto his shoulders before heading inside the lion, all the while chatting on about something. His wings were up, brushing Lance’s own wings as they moved up and into the lion.

“Lance!” Lance sucked in a giant, shaky breath as he opened his eyes and saw that he was laying in Keith’s arms, his wings tucked under Lance and protecting his own wings, and the others were hovering over them looking concerned. “What happened, Lance? One moment you were standing as we all saw five lions coming together, then you continued to be in a trance before falling over,” Keith said, concern laced his voice but Lance didn’t question it.

“I...I saw something,” he started. “It was me…..but younger, and I was with this man in blue armor and this lion was there too. We…..went inside her, talking about something,” he explained looking up at the lion's face and the others also looked.

“If you being with this lion helps you remember your past, maybe we should go inside her and let her help you remember,” Pidge said and the others slowly nodded agreement. The lion then started moving, engines came to a whirring life and the head came down as Hunk and Pidge yelled out in fear. The head stop moving and the mouth then opened forming a ramp. Keith helped Lance up and they then walked into the Lion, with the others behind and Keith walked right behind Lance prepared to catch him should he sway or start falling.

They entered a cockpit and it lights up in a light blue color. Keith watches as Lance sits down in the chair and it rushes forward causing him to yelp slightly and Keith rushes forward as Lance looks at the controls in front of him. A holograph panel forms and the windows clear up allowing them to look out into the cave they’re in. “Whoa,” both Hunk and Pidge said in awe.

“All right!” Lance said happily, wings up in excitement as he continued to examine the board.

“Ok guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we’re all aware,” Hunk started and everyone looked over at him as he stood to Lance’s left with Pidge on his right and Shiro and Keith behind him. “We walked inside some futuristic alien cat head right now in the hopes of it helping Lance get his memories back,” he continued and they continued to stare at him. _My pilot, you should hurry_ , the voice said.

“Are you guys all sure about this?” he asked and they all looked at Lance before nodded their heads.

“Of course. This is your chance to get back lost memories and we can make sure the aliens that had me don’t get this,” Shiro said and everyone once agreed.

“Maybe you’ll also remember things that you’ve forgotten,” Lance said and Shiro nodded.

“Yeah, maybe,” Shiro said though they could tell he was worried about what he might remember. Lance nods before he starts pressing buttons that he remembers being pushed long ago and with the help of the lion. The lion the stands up and lets off a roar and Hunk and Pidge yelled a little again.

“Ok, got it. Now let’s try this,” Lance said pushing the rods by him forward and the lion then burst forward breaking out of the cave and out into the sun as it started going down to the west. The Lion started going down before something stopped it and it then went forward flying. It then started doing maneuvers without Lance doing anything and everyone either grabbed onto some part of him or the chair he was in as they flew.

“You are…..the worst pilot…..ever,” Keith managed to grit out as he was moved about. Lance felt a stab of pain and doubt in him at the words but the comforting presence in him sent him warmth and reassurance. Soon they were on the ground and the lion ran across bouncing slightly and Hunk leaned forward.

“This is pretty awesome!” Lance shouted.

“Make it stop. Make it stop,” Hunk begged and Lance looked over at his friend.

“I’m not making it do anything,” Lance said looking back briefly at Keith before looking at Hunk again. “It’s like it’s on autopilot or something,” he shouted as they continued running. _My pilot, an enemy is coming toward the planet. We must stop it,_ the voice said and Lance gave a small nod as the lion then turned up and started flying into the atmosphere.

“Where are you going?” Keith shouted as they flew.

“I just said it’s on autopilot. But she did say there’s an enemy ship coming towards Earth and we need to stop it,” Lance said

“And did it say exactly how we’re supposed to do that?” Pidge asked and Lance shrugged.

“She didn’t. She just said we need to stop it,” Lance said.

“Well, why are they looking for this weapon anyways? And if they’re looking for it, can’t we use it somehow or get them to chase it?” Hunk asked and Shiro looked at him.

“These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their paths. This is probably one of the only things that can stop them and they want to make sure, possibly, that it can’t be used to stop them by getting it first,” Shiro said and Lance nodded.

“Hunk, that’s a great idea. Get them to chase the lion!” Lance said as they exited the atmosphere and the lion roared. They soon stopped flying forward and after a little, a huge ship that looked like a battleship zoomed up from a fast past to appear in front of them like a ship would from Star Wars.

“Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?” Hunk asked and both Lance and Shiro nodded. _It is, my pilot. You must get it away from their-your-home_ , the voice said and Lance thought about how it hesitated in the words for home.

“They found me,” Shiro whispered and Lance looked at Shiro.

“We’ll make sure they don’t get you,” Lance said and Shiro looked down and nodded at Lance. They looked at the ship from the side and saw how it was huge and could fit a ton of people in it. Lasers then started coming out of it and Lance moved the lion dodging all the lasers.

“We have to get out of here!” Pidge shouted in his ear.

“On it! Now hold on!” he shouted back and everyone gripped harder onto what they had as Lance dodged more lasers before flying off a ways before turning again. He then pushed one of the sticks forward and a laser shot from the lion’s mouth and cut through the Galra ship, causing explosions to go off along the cut side. “Let’s try this,” he said before pushing both sticks forward making the lion go toward the ship as it dodged lasers before sinking it’s metal claws into the ship and spinning around, causing more damage to the ship before flying away.

“Nice job, Lance,” Shiro said and he then heard it again but from a different voice. He closed his eyes and the man wearing the blue armor appeared again, smiling and saying the words himself with a warm smile on his face and an arm around a cat person that was slightly shorter and was wearing red armor. Lance shook his head briefly and looked at the ship again.

“Ok, time to get this ship away from our planet,” Lance said turning the lion away from Earth and flying off.

“Oh no!” Hunk cried when he saw the Galra ship.

“It’s gaining on us!” Pidge shouted, fear laced her words as they continued flying away.

“Well, now we definitely know they just want to capture us unharmed since they aren’t shooting,” Lance said and Shiro nodded.

“Where are we?” Keith asked and Shiro looked out the window and saw a familiar planet.

“Edge of the solar system. There’s Kerberos,” Shiro said and they all glanced out to the planet as they passed by.

“It takes months for our ships to get this far. We got out here in five seconds,” Pidge said, awe and disbelief in her voice. Suddenly a portal opens up in front of them, shining a brilliant light blue with an alien design on the outer edge.

“What is that?” Hunk asked and they all looked forward. _Go through, my pilot. The answers you seek are on the other side,_ the voice said, providing a comforting presence in his mind.

“This might seem a bit crazy, but the lion wants us to go through. Says the answers we seek are on the other side,” Lance said and he looked briefly over his shoulders to the others before facing forward again.

“Where does it go?” Pidge asked and Lance closed his eyes trying to feel the lion's presence to ask but she remained silent.

“I don’t know. Sorry, the lion isn’t speaking anymore,” he said. “Shiro, you’re the senior officer here. What should we do?” Lance asked and everyone looked at him.

“Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I saw we trust it, it seems to want to help us, but we’re a team now. We should decide together,” Shiro said and they all looked determine and Pidge placed a hand on Lance’s shoulders.

“Alright, guess we’re all ditching class tomorrow,” Lance said as he pushed the sticks forward making the lion going a bit faster through the wormhole. They entered it and they all were pushed back painfully and all groaning as they fought to stay put. They soon exit the wormhole and in front of them was a planet that looked like Earth but slightly different. “Whoa, that was…..” Lance began but was cut off as Hunk turned aside and pucked, wings flaring up causing Keith to move. Lance turned his head away with a disgusted face and heard Blue’s growls of disgust at it.

“So sorry,” Hunk said turning to them slightly.

“I’m just surprised it took this long,” Pidge said adjusting the glasses on her face that she didn’t need.

“I don’t recognize any of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from Earth,” Shiro said as he looked out the window.

“The lion’s seems to be wanting to go to that planet. I think….I think she’s heading home,” Lance said as they blasted toward the planet. They entered the atmosphere and red was in front of them as they broke through, the entire lion shaking as she went through and everyone leaned forward over Lance as they made it through. “Guys, personal space. Hunk, your breath is killing me,” Lance said, his wings being pushed against uncomfortably.

“Um, is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?” Hunk asked. “Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyways?”

“Got us away from that alien ship didn’t it? And, it might actually be able to help us, I’ve already remembered a few things from my past,” Lance argues and Hunk was forced to concede that so far it had helped Lance get a few things from his past back.

“Knock it off. If we want to get through this, we’ve got to do it together,” Shiro said and they all looked over at him.

“So, what do we do now?” Pidge asked and they all looked toward Shiro.

“First we find out where we’re heading. Lance?” Shiro asked and Lance looked away as they all looked at him. Lance felt his wings droop as he couldn’t answer their question, he felt bad especially when he saw Shiro’s kind smile.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. The lion’s not talking to me anymore,” he said and he felt Shiro’s hand go onto his shoulder.

“It’s ok, we understand,” Shiro said and Lance nodded.

“Look, there’s a castle….up…..ahead,” Lance’s words spaced out as his brows furrowed in thought, the Castle looked familiar to him and he couldn’t help but feel a bit apprehensive coming towards it. He felt something was wrong, like he’s been to the castle before and it’s now missing something. His vision clouded over slightly and the little girl from his dream popped up.

 _“Come on Lance! Let’s look around the castle!” she said excitedly. “Father said we can wander around the Castle of Lions!_ ” _she continued giving him a blinding smile._

Lance sucked in a breath and they all looked at him in concern. He continued to stare at the castle. “Castle of Lions,” he whispered and they all looked at him curiously.

“Castle of Lions?” Keith asked and Lance nodded.

“I had a….flashback from when I was younger and that was what the girl called this place. The ‘Castle of Lions’,” he explained and they nodded.

“Wow,” they all said as the lion flew down closer to the castle. Something happened with the lion and the points of the castle, the spires, all light up with a bright blue light along with sections of the tower walls. Blue then lands with a heavy thud and they all look out at the castle and ground in front of them.

“Keep your guard up,” Shiro said and Pidge looked up at him.

“Something wrong?” she asked and before Shiro could answer Lance spoke up.

“I agree. Something….feels off. Like there’s something missing here,” he said and they nodded.

“My crew got captured by aliens once. I’m not going to let that happen again. Especially when one member has an unknown, possibly important, past,” he said looking at Lance who gave a small nod. They all then walk out of Blue with Shiro in front and Lance is right beside him looking up at the Castle.

There’s a rumbling and Blue goes up as everyone gasps as the ground shakes. Blue then roars loudly and lines on the door glow blue before opening up as Hunk freaks out. “The door is open,” Hunk said looking from where he was hiding at the door. They then hear more whirring, then the sound of metal grinding and turning around to the Lion. “What’s happening!?” Hunk shouted as the Lion shrank before them until it was the size of a cat back on Earth. Blue then ran forward toward Lance and started climbing up his body until she stopped on his shoulders and laid down, covering herself with Lance's wings and giving a slight purr of content, tail swinging lazily.

Lance gave a small chuckle and patted Blue’s head before looking back toward the massive door. They then walk into the Castle, the feeling of being there before never leaving. “Hello?” Hunk suddenly called out, wings fluffed up in curiosity, and they all turned to him as they stopped in a ballroom looking room with stairs in front of them.

“I wonder why it’s called Castle of Lions if the lion can change sizes?” Pidge wondered aloud as everyone looked around the empty room. There were flashes of light and suddenly a beam of blue light came down surrounding them.

“ _Hold for identity scan_ ,” a voice from a hidden speaker spoke. Pidge gasped as a circle of blue light surrounded them and went up their bodies scanning them. A feeling of nostalgia overcame Lance as it happened, like he’s seen it and done it before and his wings drooped until the ends touched the ground.

“Why are we here? What do you want with us? Can you help our friend?” Shiro called out and Blue purred from her perch on Lance’s shoulder.

“ _Done, welcome back, Prince Lance,_ ” the voice called out and everyone looked at Lance as lights turned on going down a hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM!! Next chap done!!! That’s what I’m talking ’bout!!! Ok, sorry, so please tell me what you think. Ok, next chap should, hopefully, be put up soon, in the next few days hopefully. We’ll see though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, information gets spilled, memories are retrieved and things are learned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, here’s the next chap!! And let me say, it warms my heart to see many people really liking this idea of mine!!! Ok, so here’s the story! Luv ya my readers!
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: Paladin Willa

 

“You're a prince!?” Hunk’s voice rose as he asked the question and Lance shrugged.

“I guess so,” he said and a beeping went through over the system.

“ _ Prince Lance, a member of your group has Galra DNA _ ,” the voice spoke again and Lance’s eyes widened.

“Who?” he asked and a light shone up from under Keith and they all looked over at him. “What?” Lance spoke and Keith looked just as surprised as everyone else.

“ _ Half of his DNA is of Galra decent, the other half is human. The Galra race does not like half-breeds so it can be deducted that this half-breed’s parents hid him away on a distant planet that was not concurred by the Empire to protect him and also made it possible through a serum to hide his heritage from those who do not like the Empire, _ ” the voice-castle explained.

“Is there a way to allow him to change freely between his two forms?” Lance asked.

“ _ Yes, the Royal Advisor will know how to make it possible _ ,” the castle spoke and then quieted down.

“I guess we follow the lights,” Shiro said and everyone nodded. They then went down the hall and lights continued sparking up to lead them to a particular spot.

“Wait,” Pidge said and everyone turned towards her. “If you're a prince of this Castle, how did you end up on Earth?” she asked and Lance shrugged.

“We’ll see,” he said and everyone nodded and they continued forward. As they walked, Lance saw brief flashes of walking through those very hallways and he then stopped, one hand on the wall, the other on his head as he closed his eyes.

_ A young Allura ran forward, ahead of him as they ran through the hall. “Come on, Lance! Tsrra should be out of the pod now!” she yelled happily. _

His eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath. Blue flicked her tail so that it rubbed Lance’s back and wings comfortingly. “Did you get a snippet of a memory?” Pidge asked and Lance nodded.

“There was a name, Tsrra. I feel like I should remember the person. And, I think I remember the place the Castle is leading us to, a healing chamber or something,” Lance said going forward. He started walking fast down a set of stairs and down different halls all the while Hunk occasionally called out ‘hello’, hoping someone might answer back. They soon arrived in front of a door and Lance placed a hand on it, a hissing came from the door and the door soon slid open, allowing them to walk inside.

“It looks like some sort of control room,” Pidge said and the panel in front of her lit up with blue markings. There was soon another hiss and something came out of the ground with some fog or mist. Another one soon followed and Lance looked between the two, a pounding coming to his head.

“Are these guys….dead?” hunk asked as Lance closed his eyes as another bout of pain washed over him.

_ Allura, a young adult, rushed through the halls with Lance behind her. The castle shook as they went into the bridge, fighting going on outside. Red and orange flashed both in the ship as alarms went off and outside in the battle as ships exploded. “Zarkon,” Alfor growled at the podium in his paladin uniform. His wings were up, feathers puffed up in agitation, the inside yellow like his armor. Coran stood at a console, his orange wings tense and ruffled up in agitation of his own. _

_ “Your fleet has been destroyed, Alfor,” Zarkon began on the screen. “I will be there shortly to claim Voltron,” he said pausing and both Lance and Allura looked at Alfor, “and the future Blue Paladin,” the video then cut out to show the ship firing its ion cannon at them. The ship shook as everyone stood gaping at what Zarkon said. _

_ “Father, we must form Voltron and fight before it's too late!” Allura said and Alfor shook his head. _

_ “It’s already too late. We must send the lions away,” Alfor said. “We can’t risk them falling into Zarkon’s hands,” he said and then turned to Lance. “And you shall be hidden with them,” he said walking toward them. _

_ “We can’t give up hope!” Allura shouted as Alfor stopped in front of her. _

_ “I’m sorry, children,” he said reaching up and placing his hand on her jaw. “If all goes well, I will see you two again soon,” he then did something and Allura started swaying, her wings going limp and falling behind her to the ground as she mumbling something. “I love you,” he then turned to Lance. “I love you. Protect Allura from anything that threatens her, and may the Lions watch over you,” he said walking over to Lance as Coran took Allura from Alfor. _

_ “Father? What are you--” Lance started only to get cut off as something fell from above as the ship got hit again and hit him hard on the head. Lance gasped as he fell down and Alfor rushed forward, hugging Lance close as he slowly lost consciousness. _

Lance stumbled back gripping his head with a yelp of pain, Blue jumped from his shoulders, landing on her feet before looking back at him. He tripped back, starting to fall down only to be stopped by Keith catching him. “What happened?” Keith asked.

“I-I had a flashback. Of a battle, and the woman I saw was there again, and so was this man I called ‘father’. This Zarkon person wanted me, the man did something and this Lura person went unconscious. I think the man was going to do it to me too, but something hit me,” Lance said looking between the faces surrounding him. Blue came forward and started rubbing Lance’s legs, purring comfortingly again.

There was a hiss again and they all turned to see the glass disappear from the pod like thing and the woman he saw from his dreams was there. She gasped awake, wings popping up in surprise, falling forward while shouting, “Father!” she reached out like trying to grab something and Lance scrambled from Keith’s arms to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Hello,” he said and she looked at him, brow furrowed as she thought about something. “Are you ok?” he asked. Her eyes then widened and she pushed him arms length away, studying him before a smile broke across her face and she pulled him back to her, gripping him in a tight embrace with her wings going around them both

“Lance!” she shouted with joy hugging him still. “What happened? Did father freeze you?” she asked stepping back slightly, unwrapping her wings and Lance looked at her slightly confused.

“I don’t know. And I don’t know you either, I’m sorry. We were hoping you could help me,” Lance said and Allura’s wings drooped to the ground at hearing this.

“You don’t remember?” she asked and lance nodded yes sadly to her. Her eyes grew sad and she then looked around the room and saw the other occupants. “Who are they?” she asked stepping in front of Lance.

“These are my friends,” Lance said stepping aside and pointed to each in turn, “Shiro, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge. They came here with me when we discovered Blue here in a cave,” he explained pointing to Blue who was walking up to Allura. Allura bent down to Blue and picked her up.

“Do you what happened to Lance?” she asked Blue who gave a hesitant nod. Everyone looked at her confused. “The Blue Lion may be able to help get my brothers memory back,” she said and they looked between the two.

“Wait, brother?” Hunk asked and Allura nodded.

“Yes, he’s my younger brother, though he seems to have grown since that time. I need to find out how long we’ve been sleeping,” she said setting Blue down before walking from Lance to the panel where Pidge stood hovering. She placed her hands on the panel, causing a couple screens to materialize and Pidge’s eyes widened.

“So that’s how that works,” she said. Soon another hiss was heard and everyone else looked over in time to see the glass disappear to show a man with orange hair, mustache, and wings that seemed like a friendly, welcoming color compared to his hair, one that Lance knew was familiar.

“Ah! Enemies!” he shouted, wings up prepared to fight as he looking around and noticed Lance beside him. “Lance!” he rushed toward Lance and squeezed him tight in a hug. “I was so very worried about you when you got struck with that panel!” he said hugging Lance tighter. Lance’s wings went up in shock before lowering slowly as he relaxed in the grip.

“Uh….it’s ok?” Lance said, it sounding like a question as he patted the man's head. “So, who are you two?” he asked once the man leaned back, though he still gripped Lance’s upper arms.

“My boy, you don’t remember? Anything?” he asked and Lance nodded.

“Sorry. I don’t remember anything before eleven and a half about. Everything is just a blank, but I have had a few dreams with her face,” he pointed over toward the woman at the panel, his sister. “And more recently, I’ve seen more faces, places and had conversations,” he said looking between the man and woman. “And we discovered something, something that could be important,” he said right as the woman gasped.

“It can’t be,” she said and they all looked at her.

“What is it, Allura?” the man asked and Allura turned to him and looked at Lance too, a sadness filled in them.

“Coran, we’ve been asleep for 10,000 years. Lance, you somehow were awoken earlier than us and was allowed to age. But, planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Father is gone. Our entire civilization….” she looked back up at Coran and looked sadly at Lance. Soon, a rage filled Allura’s eyes. “Zarkon,” she hissed and both Lance and Shiro gasped. Though Shiro gasped because he didn’t think destroying whole planets was possible even though he was Zarkon’s prisoner for a year.

Lance though got an unwanted flashback, to the day of Zarkon’s betrayal.  _ An explosion rocked the Castle from where it was settled on Altea. Lance looked around desperately trying to find Allura, Alfor, Ilek or Tsrra. Someone who had an idea of what was happening. As the entire Castle shook, Lance stumbled into the Lion’s bays, a place where all the Lions could come together. Inside Black stood in all her glory with her Paladin at her feet growling and trying to enter her. Black growled at Zarkon who was in different armor. “Zarkon?” Lance called out and both looked toward him, Zarkon had a snarl and Black had worry that somehow transmitted to her face. _

_ “Ah, the future Blue Paladin. Do you think you can get Black to open?” he asked and Lance looked at Black, a tug pulled at his mind and he opened up allowing the Lion to talk to him.  _ **_Do not listen. He has been corrupted by the druid Haggar,_ ** _ she said and Lance looked over at Zarkon. He saw the evil gleam in his eyes that were full of hatred. His normally golden eyes glowed a threatening purple and Lance knew that something was indeed wrong. _

_ “How come she won’t open up for you?” Lance asked and Zarkon’s hate filled gaze turned to suspicion at him. _

_ “Why do you ask that? I just want to see if you can open Black up. You seem like a good candidate for the Black Lion,” he said. “So, go on, open her up,” he said smiling evilly at him. _

_ “No. A potential Paladin can’t open a Lion if their own Paladin is still alive and bonded. If you lost your bond with Black, I will not open her up for you to try taking her by force,” Lance said puffing his chest out. Zarkon then growled at him. _

_ “You’ve made a mistake boy,” he growled at Lance and went forward, drawing his bayard and it transformed into a sword. He raised the sword at him, a satisfied gleam in his eyes. “You’ll pay,” he growled, “dearly.” _

_ Roars filled the room as Black came forward along with Blue. they went toward Zarkon and hit him back away from Lance right as he swung the sword down, the sword making a cut from the shoulder to his elbow. Lance stumbled back gripping his injured right arm as his wings beat to get him away. _

Lance threw his arms up as he felt like Zarkon was in the room with him and was attacking. He fell back onto the ground, wings going up in defense and fear. He had his arms up in front of his face and felt hands gripping his shoulders. “No!” he yelled out still encased in the memory of Zarkon attacking him. “Stay back Zarkon!” he shouted and both Allura and Coran looked at Lance, remembering Lance coming down the hall running with a long cut on his arm and bruises on his body. They then knew he was reliving that day.

“Lance!” Allura shouted shaking his shoulders slightly and Lance tried jerking free of his grip again. Suddenly red-clad arms encircled Lance and Allura looked up to see a black haired man holding Lance, his face set in concern and sadness.

“Lance,” Keith muttered into the frightened boy's ear. “Lance, you’re safe. You’re with friends,” he continued murmuring into Lance’s ear. “I got you, you’re safe,” he said and Lance slowly relaxed in Keith’s grip, he grabbed Keith’s arms as his eyes twitched under his eyelids and slowly they stopped. His uneven, ragged breathing slowly evened out and his tense wings lowered, he then leaned into Keith’s embrace. “I got you,” Keith muttered again and Lance squinted his eyes looking around from where he was on the floor.

Allura and Coran were in front of him with Keith at his side and the others were farther behind Allura and Coran. “Sorry,” he muttered and Allura leaned forward and hugged both Lance and Keith.

“It’s ok Lance. This is bound to happen as you’re slowly remembering your past,” she said before looking at Keith. “And thank you for helping my brother calm down from his panic attack,” she said and Keith nodded.

“’Llura,” Lance muttered and she looked at him. “There’s something you should know, know about Keith,” he continued and everyone looked at Keith. Keith looked down at Lance and he nodded.

“Um, it appears that I have Galra DNA. I didn’t know until the Castle told us Lance was a prince,” he said and Allura looked between Lance, Keith, and Coran.

“You didn’t know?” she asked and Keith nodded.

“I’ve been on Earth for as long as I can remember,” he said and Allura nodded.

“Well, we can see if we can get you to access this Galra side, it could help us. As for you Lance, we’ll see if we can get your memory back,” she said looking between everyone and everyone nodded.

“There’s one more thing,” Lance said and Allura looked at him. “Shiro?” he called up and everyone looked at him.

“Princess, the man you spoke of, Zarkon, I was his prisoner,” Shiro said and Allura looked confused and slightly afraid.

“He’s still alive? Impossible!” she said.

“I can’t explain it, but it’s true. He’s searching for a super weapon called Voltron,” Shiro said.

“He’s searching for it because he knows it’s the only thing that can defeat him,” she said. “And that’s exactly why we must find it before he does. Lance,” she turned to him as he slowly stood up with Keith’s help, “let’s get your memory back and then we must find the other Lions before Zarkon does,” she said and everyone nodded. “What?” she looked back toward the pod she had been in and walked over to it with Lance and Coran beside her since they too heard the squeaking. Blue followed beside Lance and Lance picked her up as they got closer to the pod and looked inside it.

Inside were four mice and they squeaked happily at seeing Allura and Lance. “We aren’t the last ones here,” she said gratefully and an alarm started beeping at the panel before showing footage.

“A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!” Coran said.

“How did they find us?” Allura asked.

“Could they have perhaps found a signal given off by Blue?” Lance asked scratching Blue’s head.

“Maybe, but for now, how long until they arrive?” Shiro asked turning to Allura and Coran.

“At their speed? Oh, well,” Coran then lifted his hands and stared at the intensely as he started moving them slightly, “carry the two….I’d say a couple of days,” Coran said

“Good, let them come! By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon’s empire!” Allura said. “But first,” she turned to Lance again, “let’s get your memories back. Coran?” she asked as the mice climbed up her dress to her shoulders and Coran nodded leading the way out and heading to a different room.

“Alrighty!” Coran said grabbing a helmet with cords coming out of it. “This device will go into your mind and help unlock the memories being held hidden. You’ll also need to let Blue into your mind so she can help bring forth the lost memories since she’s chosen you as her Paladin,” Coran explained and Lance nodded laying down on a table that Coran stood by with the helmet. Coran then placed the helmet on Lance’s head as Blue climbed onto Lance’s chest and stared into his eyes. “Now, close your eyes, relax and open your mind!” Coran said and Lance followed his instructions.

Allura stood at Lance’s side and gripped his hand as the machine came to life and Lance felt Blue’s warm presence come full force into his mind. “Do you know this will work?” Keith asked and the two Alteans looked at him.

“It will. We’ve used this equipment to help many that have lost their memories due to head injuries. Lance just needs Blue since she bonded with him and had a connection to him when he lost his memory in the attack,” Coran said and they nodded. “With Blue’s help, Lance here shall have his memories back in no time,” he continued and they all nodded. Keith went over to Lance’s other side and they saw his eyes move under his eyelids as something happened in his mind.

A pain filled Lance’s head as the machine turned on going into his head. He felt a few more presences fill his mind, these were faint though, and one felt very familiar to him and a faint growl sounded in his head.  _ Black _ , Blue said and Lance remembered why it felt familiar. All that time ago when Black told him not to do what Zarkon asked, the day he betrayed them all. With that, he recognized the other three as Red, Yellow, and Green also there and wanted to help him regain his memory. His mind felt incredibly full with all the presences in there that it physically hurt like a headache, but worse.

Lance groaned in pain, head turning slightly as all the Lion’s and machine worked to get his memories. Allura tightened her grip on Lance’s hand and Keith looked torn on what to do. Eventually, Keith grabbed Lance’s hand to show support as Lance’s head turned slightly again and his eyes tightened together. The Lions made slow progress and brought forth Lance’s memories slowly starting with the more recent ones. Lance moved around a bit as he relived Zarkon’s attack and betrayal, something that wasn’t seen by any but hurt them all. Soon, they got past the betrayal and were in the time before when everyone was at peace and Zarkon was the leader of Voltron and good friends with Alfor.

After a few more minutes, all of Lance’s memories were back thanks to the Lion’s help. Lance slowly opened his eyes, blinded slightly by the light shining down on him. Keith saw that and moved so that he shaded Lance’s eyes. Lance nodded thanks and turned to look at Allura and smiled at her. Blue moved from his chest as he leaned up and he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tight. “I remember everything,” he whispered hugging her tighter and tears trickled down their eyes. “Zarkon attacked us, because of Haggar,” he said pulling back and she looked at him with confusion.

“Haggar, the druid?” she asked and Lance nodded. “She caused Zarkon to attack us?” she asked and Lance nodded.

“The day Zarkon betrayed us, he was in the bay, trying to get inside Black,” he started and Allura nodded. “Well, I stumbled in and he asked me to get Black to open up since we’re the royals, we’d be able to get any lion to open up or talk to them,” Lance explained and they nodded. Both had heard from Alfor how he could faintly hear the other lions in his mind and communicate with them. “Well, Black communicated with me and said how he was corrupted by Haggar. Black must have felt it happen and when she couldn’t stop it, she broke their bond, so he couldn’t control her anymore, but I could feel that she hadn’t completely destroyed it. There’s still a strand left of their bond,” Lance said and Allura looked between him and Coran.

“Do you know if Black can completely sever it?” she asked and Lance shrugged a bit.

“From what I can get from her, she thinks she can only when she gets a new Paladin,” he said and she nodded.

“Princess,” Shiro started and they all looked over at Shiro as he stood behind Allura, close to the door. “There are five of these lions. How are we going to find the rest?” Shiro asked and everyone looked over at Allura.

“Follow me,” she said and they all followed her up the stairs and soon they entered a room that Lance recognized as the bridge, the place where he lost all his memories. Keith placed a comforting hand on Lance’s shoulder at seeing Lance freeze at the entrance. With that hand, Lance walked forward into the room and stood beside Allura as Keith stood by the others. “Lance, I need you to stand here,” she said and he stood in the center of the platform and Allura stood beside him and took his hand. They then both closed their eyes and concentrated.

“King Alfor connected the lions to both Lance’s and Allura’s life forces. He made it so they both had to be present to get the exact location of the lions whereabouts. They alone are the key to the Lion’s whereabouts,” Coran explained as they stood back waiting. Soon, both of the royals opened their eyes slumping forward slightly and a holographic map appeared around them with coordinates.

“These are coordinates,” Pidge said in awe. Soon an image of the Black and Blue lion floated by with arrows pointing to the same spot. “The Black Lion looks like it’s in the same location as the Blue Lion,” she said tapping her chin.

“Look at you primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage,” Coran said leaning towards Pidge.

“Very observant. That’s because the Black Lion is in the Castle,” Allura said looking at Pidge.

“To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon’s hands, King Alfor locked it in the Castle. It can only be freed if the other four Lions are present,” Coran said. “Zarkon also wanted Lance, to influence him most likely so Lance was hidden away with the Blue Lion. It seems Blue here thought to allow Lance to grow older,” he said looking over at Lance as he looked at the map with a sad expression.

“As you have found, the Lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his Lion,” Allura explained looking over everyone. “Together, they form something greater than science can explain,” Allura turned and moved the hologram. “The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and is in control at all times,” Allura continued as the Black lion came to a stop in from of Shiro, “someone whose men would follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion,” she said.

“The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green lion,” Lance said this time spinning the map so the Green Lion stopped in front of Pidge and he sent her an encouraging smile.

“The Blue Lion is the most trusting, confident, trustworthy, and loyal. She cares about all but is able to adapt to any situation, she’s fluid like water and will need a pilot that reflects that,” she turned the map and the Blue Lion floated in front of him and he smiled as Blue climbed up his leg and settled herself on his shoulders. “Lance, this is why Blue has chosen you to be her pilot.”

“The Yellow Lion is kind and caring. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own,” Lance spoke again spinning the map so that the Yellow Lion was moving through the air. “As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together,” Lance said as the Yellow Lion stopped in front of Hunk who pointed at himself and Lance nodded encouragingly with a smile.

“The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master,” Allura described as she had the Red Lion form in her hands. “It’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable,” she then put her hands forward and the Lion started floating towards Keith. “It’s pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instinct than skill alone. Keith, you will pilot the Red Lion,” she said as it stopped in front of Keith who smiled. “Unfortunately, we cannot locate the Red Lion’s coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the Castle,” Allura said folding her hands together.

“Or, someone else has already found Red,” Lance said gravely which earned a sad meowl from Blue at Lance’s shoulders and felt Blue’s worry at the prospect. Lance picked Blue from her perch and hugged her close. “Don’t worry, Blue. We’ll get Red back,” Lance whispered and everyone looked at him curiously.

“An interesting thing about the Red Lion is that they are mated to the Blue Lion, and that has a tendency to reflect onto the Paladins themselves of those two Lions. Those two Paladins usually end up together romantically,” she explained smiling, looking between Keith and Lance. Lance continued to comfort his Lion while Keith looked relieved for some reason. “Anything on your mind Keith?” she asked and everyone looked at Keith.

“Oh, well, from what you said, it explained some things that I’ve been wondering about,” he said and she made a ‘go-on’ gesture. “Well, when I first saw Lance, I felt this pull to him. In my desert shack, before we discovered Blue, he blacked out after uncovering his actual form and I felt this unexplainable concern overcome me. From there, I’ve felt unexplainable urges or emotions toward Lance when something happened. But from what you said, I guess that all came from Red being mated to Blue so I felt their worry,” he said and Allura nodded smiling fondly.

“Yes, when we discovered with the previous Paladins that Red and Blue were mated, they started acting differently towards each other. They grew to love each other and then got married. I was good friends with them and the previous Blue Paladin, Ilek, had even helped train Lance when it became apparent that Blue had an eye on him. Both him and the Red Paladin, Tsrra, were excited and helped train him together,” she said smiling again.

“Well, we can still do a check of the Castle and get everything fixed. They don’t call me ‘The Coranic’ for nothing,” Coran said stepping forward.

“No one called you that except for my, Allura, Ilek, Tsrra and a few other kids, and that was just to make you feel better,” Lance said holding Blue close who nodded agreement. Coran sputtered as Allura laughed softly.

“I’ll have you know many people called me that,” he said and Lance reached a hand out and patted Coran’s shoulder while shaking his head.

“Once all of the lions are united, you will form Voltron,” Allura began and all the Lions looked to come alive, running forward and going up and formed a giant robot, “the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe,” Voltron then disappeared and they all stared at the space.

“Awesome,” Hunk said.

“Oh,” Pidge mumbled.

“Wait. Ok, we’re going to be in there and flying Lions. Got that part,” Hunk started and everyone turned to him. “How do Lions turn into legs? Is this going to be a long trip? I have to pee. Do you people pee?” he asked and Lance face palmed.

“We don’t have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion,” Shiro said and turned to face Lance. “Lance, you take Hunk and get the Yellow Lion. Keith, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it,” Shiro said. And Keith looked over at Shiro.

“I’ll go with Lance and Hunk. They’ll need help,” Keith said and Shiro looked between the two and shrugged.

“Ok, you can give them a hand if they need it,” he said and Keith nodded

“Yeah, Keith wouldn’t be much help here anyways since without me here helping, she might not find Red until we get back,” he said and Allura nodded.

“Yes, it would be wise for Keith to go with since there is a chance the planet the Yellow Lions on, could have hostiles. So much could have changed during those 10,000 years we’ve been asleep. Though, the planet the Green Lions on should be peaceful,” Allura said smiling and he wings folded in toward her body. Coran nodded agreement stretching his wings out.

“Yes, be an extra set of eyes for Lance should there be battle,” he said and they nodded.

“While you’re doing that, I’ll get this castle’s defenses ready,” Allura said standing up straight. “They’ll be sorely needed.”

“I’ll ready a pod and load the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion,” Coran spoke looking at Shiro and Pidge. They all nodded and ran out of the bridge with Coran beside them. They then split up with Coran leading Shiro and Pidge to the pods while Lance ran outside with Hunk and Keith at his heels and Blue in his arms. They made it outside and Blue jumped from his arms, already changing sizes. Soon, blue was back to her original size and they ran into the cockpit and took off with the pod in front of them. They broke out of the atmosphere and Coran’s voice came up through the comms.

“ _ We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you’ll have to be quick about your work, _ ” Coran said and Lance sighed.

“Coran, how do you know about Earth times?” Lance asked perplexed.

“ _ Oh, well, the machine brought that up and started comparing the two different time measurements you knew and put that the two are very similar to each other, _ ” Coran explained.

“Don’t know if I should feel invaded or not,” Lance said looking at Coran. “Ok, one more thing you should know about being a Paladin,” Lance continued and everyone looked at him. “Since you’re a Paladin, Paladins have the ability to become any creature that associates with the element your Lion is the guardian of,” he said and turned to Allura through a video who nodded.

“ _ Shiro, you are the Guardian of the sky. You can change into any creature that deals with the sky like any bird, _ ” she looked at Shiro before turning to Keith. “ _ Keith, you are the Guardian of fire. Any animal that deals with fire or heat, you can change into, like a phoenix, _ ” she then turned to Pidge. “ _ Pidge, you are the Guardian of the forest. You can change to any animal that lives in forests, _ ” she turned to Hunk next. “ _ Hunk you are the Guardian of land. Any animal that lives on open land, you can change into, _ ” she then turned to her brother with a smile. “ _ Lance, you are the Guardian of water. Any animal that deals with water, whether in or out of it, you can change into. This power you have, changing into any animal, can come in handy during battle. Be sure to use it to your advantage, _ ” she said and they all nodded.

“ _ According to my readings, both planets should be peaceful so if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives, _ ” Coran said. “ _ Enjoy the trip! _ ”

“Coran!” Lance yelled right at they went through the wormhole.

“I did not receive the memo on this!” Hunk shouted to Allura and Coran through the video.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Booya!! ‘Nother chap done!! And I left it on a rather peaceful note. Key word: rather. Ok, so, please tell me what you thought, if you want to see something, have any questions, theories or anything! I’m up to having a conversation with you! Ok, bye, back to writing!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they get the other lions and find red!! they also get their armor. also, SO CLOSE TO NEW YEARS ONLY AN HOUR.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAP 4!!! And yah, this first episode is taking quite a few chaps to do. Just reached the halfway point! YA! This is gonna take a while. Wish me luck!! Also, sorry for the delay in updating this. I still luv ya. I also have a new fic in the works, well two, the music one i’ve been working on for a while and then a avatar the last airbender one. Both will take a little, but i’ll try to get them up.

**** Lance grunted as Blue was jerked around by the shots being fired by Galra ships. Keith and Hunk gripped the chair back as Lance moved Blue to dodge all the fire. “Oh, no! No, no, no! Oh, no!” Hunk shouted in fright. The Galra shot their torpedos and Lance moved Blue to dodge them, swerving to the sides. Lance let off a sigh, relieved he dodged all the torpedos right as they were pushed forward. They all shouted in fright as Blue started falling to the ground. Lance gripped the controls and pushed the stick forward getting Blue to move before they hit the ground. “Coran was right! There was going to be a battle!” Hunk shouted.

They started flying through the canyon dodging rocks and lasers. They soon came to a mine and flew over as the soldiers down below shot up at them. They heard a beep and Hunk let go of Lance’s chair to pull a device out that had the Yellow lions coordinates in it and Hunk looked over the screen. “According to the coordinates, we’re right on top of the Yellow Lion,” Hunk said groaning slightly. “They don’t even know the lion is there,” he continued as they looked to the side and at the zoomed in image of a cave with altean words pointing at it. “Or maybe they just got here and they’re digging for the lion? What do you think, Lance?”

Hunk turned to face Lance as he moved Blue. “Who knows. You need to get Yellow before they find her!” Lance said and Keith nodded. “I’m going to drop you down there, alright?” Lance said turning to face Hunk.

“Me? Down there? No. No, no, no,” Hunk said shaking his head and Lance turned to face him again as he beard Blue in his mind.  _ My pilot. You need to hurry before the Galra realize, _ Blue said.

“Hunk, I’ll cover you, but you need to hurry!” Lance said making Blue dive down into the crater with the Galra shooting at them. Lance then started running Blue across the ground crushing droids and destroying fighters.

“What if the Yellow Lion doesn’t work? What if I can’t get in the mine? What if I start crying? Too late. I’m already crying!”

“Hunk, you’ll do fine and Yellow will work! I can feel her in my mind, just waiting for you to come,” Lance said as Keith placed a comforting hand on Hunk’s shoulder.

“You can do it, Hunk. We’ll cover you,” Keith said and Hunk nodded thanks. Lance then pressed a few buttons and Hunk fell through a hole and caught himself with his wings. He spun as he went down before his wings spread out catching him on the air and he flew to the ground. He looked across the space that needed to be crossed and changed into a cheetah with a smile on his face. His wings retracted into his back and he went onto his hands and knees, changing into cheetah and raced across the space in astounding bounds. As Hunk reached the cave, Lance turned Blue around to give Hunk cover as he raced to the cave.

Hunk arrived in the cave entrance and changed back and opened a panel. He grabbed a few wires and managed to hotwire the lift causing it to go down its tracks to farther into the ground where Yellow waited for him. Blue did the best she could at blocking the oncoming fire but she was outnumbered. “Keith, is there anything you can do?” Lance asked and Keith looked out before giving a slow nod.

“Open the hatch. I have an idea,” he said and Lance turned to face him.

“What is it?” he asked and Keith smirked as the hatch opened again.

“You’ll see,” was all Keith said before he pencil dived down the hole. Lance watched as Keith came out and went onto the ground and slowly changed into a giant dragon.

“Whoa,” was all Lance could mutter as Keith in his dragon form helped take down the ships there, breathing fire at them and causing the droids to heat up until their wiring started sparking. They attacked all the fighters together and destroyed a good amount before they turned back to the soldiers.

“I’ll deal with the soldiers,” Keith roared from his form. “You take the fighters,” he continued and Blue gave a nod and Keith flew to the ground and started destroying the droids down there. As they continued fighting, more fighters came, soon becoming too much for Lance to control and a few got past and shot at the cave.

“Hunk!” Lance cried and Keith looked at the incoming missiles and narrowed his eyes. He then breathed fire at the missiles and made a few of them blow up but two got past and hit the cave making it collapse. He then started firing at all the fighters and Keith joined in, grabbing the fighters with his jaw or knocking them down with his massive wings. More fighters came and Lance pulled the controls making Blue turn and race toward the canyon. “Please be ok, buddy. Come on out, please!” Lance chanted. He felt lasers hit Blue and Lance yelled as Blue was hit in thee shoulders and back legs by the thrusters.

Lance felt Blue shake and saw through the screen Blue falling to the ground. “Oh, no, no, no! We’re going down!” Lance shouted and he saw Keith attack the fighters that took him down. He pulled at the sticks hoping to get Blue up. They rolled across the ground and Lance’s head banged against the seat and the panel. Once they stopped rolling, Lance groaned in pain and looked out the window. A few more fighters were facing them and Lance groaned as he managed to get Blue to stand, alarms blaring around him and Blue lost power momentarily. Red flashed throughout the cockpit and Lance looked at the blueprints showing what was damaged on Blue and groaned at the readings.

He looked back at the fighters and they prepared their torpedos at him. A few others that were pointed at him fired their lasers again and Blue shook again, smoke come from different points on Blue. The smoke merged with the red and he flashed back into the attack that Zarkon made for Black after he was kicked out of the Castle.

_ The castle rocked as lasers and ion cannons shot at it. Lance stumbled into a wall, a pain exploded in his head. He grunted as he walked, leaning against the wall for help. He heard rapid, hollow footsteps and turned in time to see droids coming at him. He crouched slightly into a fighting position and the droids slowed down when they saw him waiting for them. He ran toward them and dodged the lasers coming at him and held his wrist up and a sheild formed in front of him. _

_ He blocked the shots and got closer to the droids. He soon was by them and swung the shield on his wrist at them. The droids fell back and dropped their guns. Lance lunged forward and grabbed a gun and managed to get a few down before the other droids recovered and started shooting at him. His grip on the gun tightened and he started shooting again at the droids taking more down. The ship wat hit hard and shook tremendously making Lance lose his balance and fall over, his grip on the gun gone and the gun skidded away from him. The droids looked at him triumphantly and pointed their guns at him……. _

He heard an explosion, making the memory shake and change to a more intense one. Hunk looked back at Blue and Lance from where he was protected them and looked at Keith who was destroying the fighters and looked back at the sparking lion. “ _ You ok, Lance? _ ” Hunk asked over the comms on the Lions. He heard a gasp and turned the comm on, seeing Lance gripping the armrests with a deathgrip and eyes screwed impossibly tight. “ _ Lance! Answer me! _ ” Hunk shouted and Lance whimpered slightly and Hunk looked back toward Keith.

“Hunk! We were worried about you!” Keith said from his form as he looked between Hunk and Lance inside their lions. Hunk jerked Yellow’s head toward Blue.

“ _ Keith, something’s wrong with Lance. I think he’s having a combined flashback and panic attack! He needs help! _ ” Hunk’s voice shouted out of the lion through a speaker and Keith nodded flying toward Blue and transforming back into his normal form. Blue opened her mouth and he flew into her and headed into the cockpit and saw Lance in his seat, clutching the rests, his face slightly pale and ran over to him.

“Lance!” Keith shouted, concern washing over him. He then kneeled down beside Lance and placed his hands on Lance’s arms. “Lance, you’re ok. Snap out of it!” he said and Lance shook his head as something happened in his memory. He started shaking Lance slightly and Lance yelped. Keith then wrapped his arms around Lance’s slightly shaking body and then wrapped his wings around Lance too, rubbing them against Lance’s fear puffed wings.

Lance soon stopped shaking and just clutched onto Keith and his shaky, shallow breathing slowly evened out and his eyes opened up and he looked around wondering what happened as Keith’s wings blocked the view. “What happened?” he asked and Keith looked at him before slowly withdrawing his wings.

“You got attacked and rolled. Hunk went in front of you and blocked the torpedos as you went into a flashback or something then and wouldn’t respond after we got rid of the fighters currently aimed at you,” he said and Lance looked outside.

“Hunk, you jumped in front of me to stop the torpedos?” Lance asked looking at Hunk’s concerned but soon relieved face. Hunk smiled at them.

“ _ Actually, I was trying to get out of the cave and didn’t know you were under attack. But thankfully, what this lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in armor. Man, it can take a beating! _ ” Hunk then looked behind them and his eyes widened. “ _ Ooh. We’ve got incoming! _ ” he shouted and another video popped up.

“ _ Paladins, please hurry back. I can’t hold the wormholes much longer, _ ” Allura said and Lance nodded.

“Will do,” he answered as the video closed. “Alright, let’s get out of here,” he said to Hunk and Keith and they both nodded agreement. His hands tightened on the control sticks and moved them so that Blue’s thrusters turned on and they started going up to the wormhole. He heard a grunt and saw that Yellow was spinning from a hit but the wormhole was able to pull them up still.

“ _ Not this again, _ ” Hunk groaned as he spun and Lance nodded agreement.

“Please don’t get sick. Blue still hasn’t forgiven you and I don’t think Yellow will appreciate it either,” he said and he felt agreement rumble from Blue and felt Yellow faintly and that she agreed. They entered the wormhole and Lance slumped back into the seat with a sigh. Keith placed his hand on Lance’s shoulder right at the juncture where neck met shoulder and Lance relaxed slightly. He moved his hand to the back of Lance’s neck and gently squeezed it doing a little massage there and Lance relaxed all the way with a sigh, his wings going limp behind him and a smile on his face.

“ _ What did you do, Keith? _ ” Hunk asked and Keith turned to see Hunk watching them with an awed and curious expression. “ _ You got Lance all relaxed. How? _ ” he asked and Keith shrugged.

“Not sure, just placed my hand on his neck and started massaging there and he relaxed,” Keith said and Hunk nodded.

“ _ Well, should he get tense or stressed, you know now where to touch and massage to get him unwound at least _ ,” he replied and Keith nodded looking down at Lance’s relaxed face, not seeming to hear a thing of their conversation. They soon came out of the wormhole and Lance blearily opened his eyes and flew them down to the Castle, and into a hangar with Hunk. they then landed and Blue lowered her head and Lance stood up with a wince and was unsteady on his feet. Keith grabbed his arm and helped him down and together they met up with Hunk and waited patiently for the Lions. Soon both were small and ran over to them before stopping next to their feet.

Keith could tell Blue wanted to climb to Lance’s shoulders but knew he was unsteady and sore. Keith let a sigh out and bent down to pick Blue up and placed her on his shoulders. Blue let off a comforting purr and rubbed her mechanical head against Lance’s neck and Lance also sighed. He then grabbed Lance’s arm and they all made their way through the halls with Lance’s and Yellow’s help to the bridge. Yellow walked slightly ahead of them in front of Hunk. Blue and Yellow would purr, meow or make any other cat noises to each other like they were having their own conversation. Lance knew they were, he could faintly hear their voices in his head as they seemed to get caught up with each other and smiled fondly.

The soon enter the bridge and everyone turned to them and saw how they were both rubbing sore parts on their bodies, groaning softly and that Keith was helping Lance since his panic attack and the rough attacks to Blue. Blue was still doing self repairs and had faint smoke coming off her and they all had concerned expressions. Allura came up to them and grabbed his arms looking at him intently with concern. “Are you alright? What happened out there?” she asked and he gave a slight shrug and winced.

“Sore. Galra were on the planet like we suspected. Blue took quite the beating and by that, so did I. When Blue was down from the massive hit, I had a flashback to the first attack, something that still affects me and I guess I also started having a panic attack. Keith was able to help though,” he said and Allura nodded before looking at Keith with a thankful expression.

“Thank you for helping my brother,” she said and Keith nodded. “Lance, Coran found your old circlet, the one mother and father made for you and the communication earrings too,” she said and Lance’s eyes widened.

“You did?” he asked and she nodded.

“Yes, father took them off you it seems after you got hit and placed them in your room for safe keeping. Coran found it as he went through seeing what needed cleaning,” she said with a smile. She knew Lance loved the circlet since it was made with love by their parents like her own and the earrings he had made by hand to communicate with anyone.

“Thank you,” he muttered hugging Allura before turning to Coran and hugging him too when the advisor came over. “Thank you,” he repeated to the advisor and Coran nodded.

“It’s nothing my boy,” Coran replied and Lance pulled back and saw that his friends were confused.

“Circlet? Communication earrings? Can someone please explain what those are and mean?” Hunk asked and Shiro nodded agreement.

“A circlet is the royal families crown, it shows everyone who they are. It’s tradition that the parents make their children their own circlet from hand that would show people what they thought of their child by the color of the band and the stone. Most of the bands are gold for great love. The stone in mine is a sapphire representing wisdom, divine power and prophecy. Lance’s band is also gold. But his stone has more meanings that fit him well. His is the Blue Opal a stone that was prosperous on Altea but was very hard to get. They only formed on the peak of the mountain that overlooked the Castle. It inspires love and hope, innocence and purity, luck and happiness, all that Lance does. Father and mother couldn’t have chosen anything better for him,” she explained with a smile.

“Really?” Lance asked in disbelief. He didn’t know the Blue Opal had all those. Father had only told him it inspired those that wore it or were around, happiness and hope. Not love, innocence, purity and luck. Though, for the past years, he hasn’t felt those unknown four like he did on Altea. But Hunk and his adopted family sure did bring him love and let him have innocence and purity. Luck though, he didn’t seem to have anymore since the great war started. Allura nodded. And turned away to grab something and turned back to him.

“Yes, they told me this after they gave you this on your sixth birthday,” she said and he smiled fondly at her and as he thought about that joyous day. He then took the circlet and placed it on, it settled back into its old spot on his forehead and his hair fell over it. “I assume you’ll want these back since you did make them,” she said as Coran grabbed his old earring he made with Coran’s help. They were blue stones that had three small ones going down from the hook to a larger blue stone that looked like Allura’s but was smaller. He looked at Coran and nodded, allowing the advisor to hook them onto his ears halfway up, like he had them so long ago.

“Thanks,” he muttered again, head bowed slightly and felt Coran ruffle his hair like he did so long ago.

“No problem,” he said to Lance and Lance felt Blue hit the earring gently with her head and used her tail to hit the left earring. Lance laughed slightly at Blue’s antics and patted her head.

“Blue stop. He muttered and Blue conceded. He then felt an arm pulling on his and turned to see Pidge with Green on her head as she pulled his arm. “What is it, Pidge?” Lance asked her and she pointed to his ears.

“You made those? And they allow you to communicate?” she asked and he nodded his head.

“Almost all Alteans made these to communicate with their family members and friends. You made these when you turned seven, it showed your start to becoming your own person. You first imagined what it looked like, how it represented you then you made it with the stones your family either already had or found, that makes them even more personal since it was made from things your family had or found together. They use tech too, so that they can allow you to communicate with others. Putting it inside the stones and putting it to your families frequency and to allow your friends to talk to you was tricky. Everyone basically had a technicians to allow the frequency then you had the druid merge the stone and tech together, making it look like nothing was changed to the stone, and making it so that nothing could damage the device,” he said and stopped when he saw Shiro’s expression. “What is it, Shiro?” he asked and everyone looked at Shiro.

“Druids used to be on Altea and helped?” he asked and all the Alteans nodded. “Zarkon has the druids under his control, a druid that helps him by the name Haggar,” he said and this time Lance gasped eyes going wide and he stepped back.

“Haggar?” he asked and Shiro nodded. “She’s the reason the war even started!” he growled and Keith’s eyes widened at seeing the fury etched into Lance’s face. At their confused expressions he decided to tell them. “Zarkon….he used to be the Black Paladin. I know it seems hard to believe that he was a Paladin. But he was and he was close friends with Alfor, our father and the Yellow Paladin. They were very close, best friends even. They were closer to each other than to the other Paladins, excluding the Red and Blue Paladins since they are the closest being mated,” Lance said. “But then something changed. After Allura’s birthday he changed. His eyes used to be gold like all other Galra, but they were purple then, glowing even. It was after Haggar talked to him. She was a newly made druid, but she wasn’t like the rest, the older ones. The older ones were peaceful and helped the Alteans make peace with everyone,” he said looking down at the floor sadly.

“She was greedy for power. She got other recruits to follow her, made them greedy. The other druids tried stopping her, but they couldn’t and she got most of the recruits to side. Once she talked to Zarkon and was able to put something on him. Made him power crazy too. She was able to make him think Galra were superior to everyone else, especially Alteans. Then when he couldn’t get Black and was kicked out, he attacked. Haggar convinced him too, made him forget his friends and companions. While attacked the Castle, Haggar killed the the older druids with her other new druids and recruits before killing the recruits that didn’t follow her. Only three survived but I don’t think they’re still alive. If the druid Izabel is still alive, she could help us stop this,” he finished and Allura nodded.

“That she could, but she’s probably in hiding,” Coran said and the two nodded.

“Who’s Izabel?” Shiro asked and they turned to him.

“She was a strong druid trainee. She helped save a few recruits that refused Haggar and saved a druid too. The druid then took them t safety to train them. But it’s unknown if any of them are alive,” Lance said with a smile. “She needed practice and helped merge the tech into the stone to make my earrings communications,” he said and they nodded understanding.

“We could keep an eye for her and search when we aren’t getting attacked,” Shiro suggested and the royal siblings nodded along with Coran. Ok, now, did you find the Red Lion yet?” he asked and Lance turned to Allura.

“I can feel that it’s nearby but, not its exact location,” she said and Lance stepped toward her and they went onto the raised platform and closed their eyes.

“Give us a little and we’ll find it,” he said before focusing on Allura’s presence and then Red’s. They focused on each other and soon he saw Red beneath his eyes in the darkness and soon could feel its presence muted because of something. The object blocking it was the battleship coming to them, “Found Red,” he said opening his eyes and turned toward the others. Blue rubbed her head against his neck purring happily and he rubbed her chin. “Red’s on the ship coming toward us so there will be a battle,” Lance said and Coran stepped forward.

“But good news, the ship is orbiting Arus, and we’re Arus!” he said cheerfully and Lance looked sidelong at Coran.

“They’re here already?” Shiro asked stepping forward. Coran looked at them sadly.

“Yes. Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting-- It’s more of an art than a science,” he replied looking down at his hands as he held up a few fingers.

“Coran, it’s fine, plus on Earth, finger counting is a science,” Lance said and Coran looked at him in disbelief. A buzzing was heard and Lance stepped in front of Allura, wings spreading to cover her, as a video popped up, remembering Alfor’s words before he went unconscious, ‘protect Allura’. On the screen was a big Galra soldier wearing high ranking armor and had a cyborg eye that glowed a faint red\orange color.

“ _ Ah, Prince Lance, we’ve heard you were alive but we couldn’t track you, shame. This is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions and yourself, _ ” he said with a small smirk. “ _ Turn them over to me or I will destroy your planet, _ ” he continued.

“Well, Altea is already destroyed, can’t destroy a planet already destroyed now can you,” Lance replied glaring at Sendak.

“ _ Tell me where’s your sister Allura? _ ” he asked and Allura started moving behind him but he stopped her. “ _ Hiding behind you is she? That’s not the Allura Lord Zarkon told us about _ ,” he said and Lance felt his lips curl.

“You’re not getting anything about Allura. The only thing you’ll ever get is you’ll never get her,” he said and Sendak smirked.

“ _ Really, is it because she’s dead actually? Like her father, mother, and baby sister? _ ” he asked and Lance closed his eyes as he thought about those gone. His mother and younger sister were killed in the first attack when they were evacuating people from the capitol and the nearby cities to the other side of Altea. When he opened his eyes again they had a small shine to them.

“You will not speak their names like that,” Lance said, his voice like steel. “You’ll say their names with respect,” he growled and Sendak laughed.

“ _ Oh really? I don’t think so. And if your sister is still alive, I’ll make sure she doesn’t stay that way for long _ ,” he said and the video closed. Lance let off a sigh and slumped back and Allura rubbed his arms when his wings went limp from covering her.

“You did fine Lance,” Allura whispered and he nodded as he turned to her.

“I think it’d be best if you didn’t show your face unless you have too while the Galra are here. We need to make sure they don’t know your alive for as long as possible. If they’re not sure you’re alive, they won’t focus on you. Wish will be to our advantage, and the lions above know that,” he said and Coran nodded agreement.

“You’ll be like our secret weapon,” Pidge said and Allura looked between them.

“I will not allow people to think I’m dead,” she said.

“This can help us in battle if they don’t know you’re alive,” Lance reasoned. “You know some valuable intel about the Lions, the Galra, their battleships and other alien cultures. I know some stuff, but not as much. Until they know for sure that you’re alive, you don’t answer their communications or allow your face to be seen if it’s possible,” Lance said and both Coran and Shiro nodded agreement.

“Fine, I’ll go with this if it’ll help us defeat Zarkon. Will I need a code name?” she asked and Lance nodded.

“How about Katie?” Pidge asked. “They won’t associate that as Altean, will they?” she asked and Coran pulled at his mustache.

“They will, Katie sounds like Ka _ dee _ which was a common name for young girls in the more open spaced parts of Altea, something Zarkon will know,” Coran explained and Pidge looked down. “But Pidge, no one will know. You can go as Katie, they know Allura wasn’t going to be a Paladin, let alone the Green one. So hearing Katie for a Paladin, they’ll assume that some random Altean survived too or a child of a survivor is now piloting the Green Lion,” Coran said and Pidge smiled at that.

“Then you better start calling me Katie,” she said. “It’ll take me a little to get used to that after going by Pidge for six months at the Garrison,” she explained and they nodded.

“Sure thing, Katie,” Lance said and the girl smiled up at him. “Now, let’s get ready.”

“Right,” Shiro said as he looked at Keith and Hunk. “Let’s not panic,” he said and Hunk turned to him raising his hands.

“Not panic? The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us,” Hunk said and held up a hand with four fingers up. “We only have four Lions,” he said and Katie spoke up and he looked down at her.

“Technically, only three working lions,” she put in crossing her arms. Hunk then rested a hand on her shoulder.

“That’s right. Thank you, Katie,” Hunk said before walking up to Lance and Allura with three fingers up. “Three working lions and a castle that’s over 10,000 years old,” Hunk reasoned and Coran raised a pointed finger.

“The Castle is 10,600 years old. You see it was built by my grandfather--” Coran said and Hunk stopped him by placing a finger on his mouth.

“Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!” Hunk shouted.

“It’s ok Coran, maybe next time,” Lance whispered.

“Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate,” Allura spoke up.

“Allura, the castle hasn’t moved or done anything for over 10,000 years about. That barrier is going to need some work, especially since it seems the Galra have upgraded their tech,” Lance said and Allura’s eyes widened.

“Sendak’s ship has an ion cannon. If what Lance says is true, the barrier won’t hold out for long against it,” Coran said as a holographic screen popped up with the battleship on it and the cannon on top lighted up red.

“Panic now?” Hunk asked and Shiro shook his head.

“No. We’ve just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly,” Shiro said.

“Allura, I think we should stay to fight them. We may not be that prepared, but we need to do this. We can’t run away and risk the planet and everything on it,” Lance said.

“I...I don’t know what to do,” Allura said looking down. “I’m not father, I don’t know what’s best,” she whispered and Lance placed a hand on her shoulder giving her a smile.

“Of course you’re not father. You’re you. Do what you think is best. Follow your instincts,” he said and she smiled at him.

“Perhaps your father can help,” Coran said and they looked at him.

“How? Father’s gone,” Lance asked and Allura nodded.

“Follow me, you too Lance,” Coran said and they followed the advisor through a door and walked down a hall into a dim room that was lit by blue.

“Coran, what is this?” Allura asked.

“King Alfor knew there was a chance he might never see you two again. So, his memories, his very being, were stored here in this computer for you two,” Coran explained as they walked forward to the center.of the room. They stopped at a lowered panel and a ball of light floated up and Allura reached a hand out. Light burst from it and around them a field appeared with flowers in bloom and the mountains all around. The two looked around in awe and when they looked back to the panel, a man wearing armor that was familiar stood there.

“Father!” Allura said “Father it is so good to see you again,” she said running up to the figure and Lance joined her next to the figure.

“ _ Allura, Lance, my children, how I’ve missed you two, _ ” he said and Allura looked down, sad once again and Lance placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m so frightened,” she said and leaned down to place a hand on the podium panel and fell to her knees beside it resting her head on it as she spoke. “A Galra ship is set to attack, and I don’t know what to do,” she said wings drooping to the ground before she looked up at their father. “Please, Father, I need your help,” she pleaded and Lance kneeled down beside her, wrapping a wing around her own wings.

“ _ I would do anything to take this burden from you two _ ,” he replied and Allura rested her head against Lance’s shoulder as he rubbed her opposite arm comfortingly.

“I don’t know if I should run to preserve what we have or stay and risk everything. I want to fight, but the Paladins of old are gone. Only Lance has any knowledge of what to do. I know what you would do,” she said looking at Lance before looking at Alfor.

“ _ Scattered the Lions of Voltron to keep them safe along with Lance to keep them all out of Zarkon’s hands. You urged me to keep them and fight, but, for the greater good of protecting the universe, I chose to hide them, _ ” he said and Allura looked away.

“I think I understand,” Allura said and Lance looked between the two.

“ _ No, daughter, you were right. I made a terrible mistake, one that cost the universe countless lives, _ ” Alfor continued and they looked at each other. “ _ Forming Voltron is the only way to stop Zarkon, you must collect the lions and correct my error, _ ” he continued and Lance sat up.

“That’s not necessarily true,” he said and Alfor looked at him.

“ _ What’s not necessarily true? _ ” Alfor asked.

“I know that Zarkon is being controlled by Haggar. She corrupted him. If we can get rid of her, he’ll remember his old ways, and will probably die too. The only way Zarkon could live this long is by the druids magic. Izabell told me that druids live long lives and any spell to keep one living forever must be renewed constantly. So, with her gone, he’ll die in turn,” Lance explained and Alfor’s eyes widened.

“ _ But how do you know that Haggar corrupted him? _ ” he asked and Lance looked down.

“It was the day we discovered his betrayal. The castle shook and I stumbled into the bay with Black and Zarkon. Black told me what she felt from Zarkon,” he said and Alfor sighed.

“ _ I knew that wasn’t my friend I was battling. If this is true, then try getting that foul being gone. That maybe the only way to helping this war end, _ ” he continued and the two nodded. Everything then disappeared and they walked to the door. Outside was a slight suit that Allura had worn before. Coran must have brought it for her. Lance stepped out into the hall and allowed Allura to change into it. She soon emerged and they went back to the bridge where the new Paladins waited.

“You four Paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone,” Allura said and Lance nodded. “We must fight and keep fighting until both Haggar and Zarkon are defeated. It is our destiny. Voltron is the Universe’s only hope,” she said walking forward with Lance. “We are the Universe’s only hope,”

“Know this, if we can defeat Haggar, Zarkon will be as good as dead since he has outlived his natural life. Galra can live up to 850 years old. He’s over 10,000 years old. Once Haggar is gone, he’ll most likely die instantly. With him gone, the Empire won’t be as willing to continue their conquest,” Lance said stepping forward with a determined look.

“We’re with, Princess, Prince,” Shiro said and everyone nodded agreement.

“You guys, please just call me Lance. You know me as Lance longer than we’d known about me being a Prince,” Lance said and they nodded again.

“Now, let’s get ready for the Galra,” she said and the two of them led them through the halls toward the Paladin's armory. “Your suits of armor,” she said as they walked into the room and a circular light turned on over head and the cases with the armor also lit up. “These armors can change with you when you change into an animal,” Allura explained as they each went to their own armor. Lance went to his and looked up at Ilek’s old armor with a sad look. Ilek had been an amazing to him, always teaching him, always willing to listen to his problems. Both Ilek and Tsrra helped him and he’ll miss them. He hoped the Lions above watched over them and they were happy.

He felt an arm on his shoulder and turned to see that it was Keith’s hand and he had a sympathetic smile and Lance smiled back. Blue rubbed against his neck and he raised a hand to pat her head before she jumped down. Keith then looked over at his armor with an awed look. “Outstanding,” he muttered and he heard the others also mutter awed comments. 

“Yeah,” Lance said to Keith before turning to face the others. He turned to face his sister and Coran and heard them talking.

“Princess, are you sure about this?” Coran asked toying with his mustache before stopping. “Four of them aren’t exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer. Lance of course was chosen before the war started,” Coran said and Allura looked at him.

“No, but those four are all we’ve got and if Lance trusts them, then I trust them,” Allura replied and turned to face Shiro and the others.

“Boys, it’s time to suit up!” Shiro called and the cases opened allowing them to go behind the case into a small changer and changed. Lance stepped out and place the helmet over his head and he tilted his head to look at everyone else and heard his earring click against the helmet. Once everyone's changed they walk up to Allura where a table was up and covered by a blue cover. Allura placed her hand on the cover and it disappeared. Underneath were the Paladin’s weapons for each one, but the black one was missing, still in Zarkon’s hands.

“The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron,” she started and the bayards lifted up and floated to them. “It takes a distinct shape for each Paladin,” she explained. Hunk grabbed his and a cannon gun formed and he grunted at its weight. Keith grabbed his next and a sword formed and on his other arm a shield formed. Lance grabbed his and a rifle gun formed in his hand. He closed his eyes and thought about Ilek and how he trained him many weapons and how they bonded over the bow. He felt a shift and opened his eyes, in his hand was a bow that looked similar to Ilek’s when he trained Lance. Lance’s eyes grew shiny and he smiled fondly at the bow and Allura understood the meaning behind the bow.

“As you saw with Lance, when you get strong enough, your bayard can change forms. He’s been trained for this for years and had a head start in his bond with Blue. Don’t worry, you’ll get to that level eventually,” Allura said and Katie grabbed her bayard. It didn’t change much, the top parts connected and glowed a bright green.

“You think it tazes?” Lance asked and Katie shrugged.

“Don’t know. Wanna try?” she asked with a smirk and Lance started shaking his head.

“No-AHH!” Lance started only to get shocked anyways, wings puffing up in surprise as electricity coursed through him. She pulled it back quickly but he still fell to the ground dazed.

“Cute. I’ll have to see if it can do other things as well,” she said before reaching a hand out to Lance. “Also, sorry,” she said as she helped Lance up and Blue rubbed against his legs and Green looked between the two of them curiously.

“Don’t do that again. Do it with a dummy,” Lance said and Katie nodded as Keith went over and helped keep him steady.

“Shiro, I’m afraid your bayard was lost. I know not if it’s with Zarkon or not,” she said regrettably and Shiro smiled at her in sympathy.

“It’s ok. I’ll just make do without it,” he said.

“Alright, to the bridge,” she said and they went up there and Coran was already there with the blueprint outline of Sendak’s ship. “You’ll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak’s ship,” she said as they looked at the holograph.

“That’s a pretty big ship. How will we gonna know where the Red Lion is?” Keith asked.

“It’s not a matter of ‘we’. It’s a matter of ‘you’,” Katie said.

“Katie is right. Once we get you in, you’ll be able to feel it’s presence and track it down,” Hunk said.

“Yeah. Remember how you felt the energy from Blue in the desert?” Lance asked and Keith nodded. “It’s like that. But I can help you a bit,” he continued and went toward the holograph. “The Red Lion as far as me and Allura could feel would be somewhere on the forefront of the ship on these two levels,” he said pointing to halfway down the ship in the front area.

“Keith, remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. Even though you are their Paladin, you’ll still need to earn their respect,” Allura said and Keith nodded and felt a hand placed on his shoulder and saw that it was Shiro’s hand.

“Alright, here’s our plan of attack,” Shiro said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so chap end! WHOA!! ALMOST DONE WITH EPISODE ONE!! Man this episode is long. Wish me luck for the next few chaps for episode one and the new year, heaven knows i’ll need it. and i'm so done with this year, can it plz be over?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this episode it taking a long time. Also, sorry for the delay in updating this. I still luv ya. Also, the avatar the last airbender one, is being written for a thing I joined called Voltron BigBang, I think it’ll be up in like June, but we’ll see. Let’s hope this will be the last chap for it. also, if there are any mistakes, please tell me since i'm quite tired and sick, so sorry about any mistakes you find so please tell me where and i'll fix it.
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: Paladin Willa

 

“This is our plan. The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lions, but they don’t know we have the Green Lion, too,” Shiro began and everyone nodded. “Hunk, Lance you’ll act as a distraction by pretending to give yourselves up,” he said looking between the two. “Hunk, make sure you keep him safe,” he added and Hunk nodded agreement and he turned to the others. “While Sendak is distracted, Keith, Katie, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion from behind. Keith and I will go find the Red Lion while Katie guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, find a way to take down that ion cannon,” Shiro finished and everyone nodded agreement.

“Alright Paladins, get to the Lions,” Allura said. Katie, Hunk and Lance all picked up their Lion’s before flying out of the room and going outside. They each then went a good distance from each other and placed their Lion’s on the ground and stepped back allowing the Lion’s to grow back into their normal sizes before running in. Hunk and Lance both flew through the atmosphere from where they were while Katie flew Green the the opposite side of the planet to exit without anyone seeing them. The Yellow and Blue Lion’s flew together toward the giant battleship that floated outside of Arus’s atmosphere before stopping in front of them.

He then pressed a few buttons and a channel opened up to the Galra ship and he waited for them to answer, all the while his wings were tense behind him showing how nervous he was. “Attention, Galra ship. Do not fire. I, Prince Lance, am surrendering and give up my Lion along with the Yellow Lion. I realize that after so long of being frozen in cyro-sleep, I wouldn’t stand a chance against you,” Lance said once the comm was accepted and Lance saw the ship's bridge and he saw Sendak smirking. “I hope this works,” he muttered to himself.

“ _ You made a smart decision prince. Emperor Zarkon will be pleased to know that you know we are too powerful for you to stop us, _ ” he said smirking and Lance swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Of course he would,” Lance muttered to himself. “We shall see each other in person soon, then,” Lance said aloud and Sendak nodded before closing the channel and Lance sighed in relief, wings sagging slightly but still up. “Katie, what’s your ETA?” he asked and he heard muffled movement as they presumably landed somewhere.

“ _ We’re in, _ ” she replied. In front of Blue and Yellow, a panel opened with a bright purple glow.

“ _ Um, what’s that thing? _ ” Hunk asked over the comms and Lance ground his teeth together.

“A tractor beam. Our signal to get out of here,” Lance said as the beam shot out and they both moved away from it. “Hunk, dismantle that ion cannon. See if you can severe it from the ship. While you do that, I’ll distract the fighters and destroy them,” he said.

“I need to keep you safe!” Hunk said and Lance grunted. “Remember, Shiro told me to,” he reasoned.

“I can take care of myself,” Lance replied as fighters flew out of the ship.

“Alright. Ten-four,” Hunk answered with a sigh. They then dove the Lion’s down as the battleship started shooting at them. Hunk flew down toward the cannon and Lance had Blue fly around and shot at fighters, destroying them.

**XXX**

Keith looked around the hall before walking forward with Shiro and Katie following. He heard their footsteps and suddenly the lighter footsteps stopped and then the other set stopped. Keith then stopped himself and looked back to see Shiro standing in the middle of the hall. Shiro then gasped and both he and Katie went over to him. “I’ve been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here,” Shiro said and Katie looked up hopefully.

“So, that means dad and Matt might be held captive here,” she said. “We’ve…..we’ve got to rescue them,” she continued and Shiro grit his teeth together.

“Katie, we don’t have much time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus,” Shiro said turning to look at her.

“We can’t leave them or any other prisoner here!” she said, her wings going up in agitation, and he stepped toward her.

“Look, no one understands that better than me, but, in war, we have to make hard choices,” Shiro said and Katie glared at him. “Now, let’s get moving,” he then turned to head the direction Keith was when Katie’s voice stopped them both.

“No!” she said and they looked at her. Her wings were puffed up behind her and tense at the thought that a friend of her father and brother would leave them in these monsters hands. “I’ve been searching for them everywhere and I’m not about to pass up the chance at finding them in here. I’m so close,” she said turning and she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Shiro standing right behind her.

“I’ll come with you,” he said with a sigh, wings dropping slightly.

“What?” Keith asked surprised at Shiro’s decision.

“I remember where the prisoners are held,” he said turning to face Keith next. “Keith, you go find the Red Lion,” Keith tensed up, before leaning forward, bayard in the sword form moving up slightly.

“By myself?” he asked, concerned about how he’d find Red.

“Minor change of plans. You’ll be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus,” Shiro said placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “So--” he cut himself off when they heard footsteps ringing. “Run!” he said and he nodded to Katie. They bother changed into an animal and went off down the hall and Keith ran down the opposite hall.

**XXX**

From where Lance was, he saw Hunk ram Yellow forward toward the cannon. Yellow suddenly went backwards as she hit a barrier in front of the cannon. “ _ What the _ quiznak? _ What is that? A force field? _ ” he asked and Lance glanced over at it right as the barrier went invisible. Lance squinted at it before sighing.

“It is,” Lance said with a sigh to Hunk. “You’ll have to work hard on getting that particle barrier down,” he said turning Blue around in time to see fighters going past him. “Watch out Hunk! The fighters are targeting you!” he shouted and he heard Hunk shout as he dodged the attacks.

“Thanks buddy,” Hunk said and Lance stayed quiet focusing on taking the fighters down.

**XXX**

Keith flew down the halls trying to find Red and he twisted, turing himself down a hall. He then stopped at an intersection that he’d been at before and groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he said panting. He then took another deep breath and thought of the words Shiro said. “Patience….yields..focus,” he whispered closing his eyes.

In his mind he saw Red where they were floating slightly with their barrier up in a hangar with wires around. He then saw which halls to take and he turned facing the direction he came from before. “Gotcha,” he said triumphantly. He then started running down the hall before he picked himself up into the air and flew down the halls toward Red.

**XXX**

Shiro and Katie flew through the ship’s halls. They had changed back into their normal selves shortly after outrunning the soldiers and found themselves in a hall that glowed with green lights. They stopped in another intersection and a drone flew up through the air and Katie raised her right arm and shot it. The drone twitched and fell to the ground. Katie ran up to it as Shiro went up behind her. “That thing saw us. We should get out of here,” he said as Katie kneeled down and opened a panel to start fiddling with the wiring.

“Wait. I think this might come in handy,” she said as she worked. “Now, I’ll just reset the controls….” she muttered as she fiddle a bit more before closing the panel, “and it’s working for us now,” she finished as the drone floated up glowing the familiar Altean blue. “I’m gonna call you ‘Rover’. Follow me!” she said as they ran down a hall since they were getting closer to the cells. They then ran up to a door with a small rectangular window in a hall that shone with green lights. “Open up,” she said and Rover went forward.

A light beam went from Rover and went to an invisible panel that turned on. A circle went around as it opened up before it finished and the door started creaking. “Excellent, Katie,” Shiro said and Katie smiled at him before going into the newly opened cell to gasps.

“Dad?” she called going in and looking around. Two aliens in the center had their arms together and the taller gray one pulled the shorter yellow one closer.

“Don’t be afraid,” Shiro started as Katie’s gaze lowered to the ground sadly. “We’re here to help you escape,” he finished and the gray alien looked at him with recognition.

“It’s you….It’s you, the Champion,” the gray alien said and they both looked at him curiously. “If anyone can get us out of here, he can,” he continued and all the aliens looked at Shiro as Katie turned back to look at Rover.

“Wh….What did you call me?” he asked and Katie looked back in.

“We don’t have much time,” she said. “We need to get to the escape pods,” she said going out into the hall.

“Let’s go. Come on!” Shiro said waving them forward as Katie ran down the hall.

**XXX**

“Whoa-ho-ho!” Lance shouted out as he flew Blue through space dodging what looked like stun blasts and electric nests. “It feels so good to be flying again,” he muttered and Blue rumbled agreement. In the distance he saw Hunk attacking the barrier some more and he spun off slightly groaning. “You can do this Hunk!” he shouted encouragement to him and Hunk nodded. “Try using some of the weapons on Yellow to help,” he suggested and Hunk nodded.

**XXX**

Keith flew into the hangar and saw Red suspended above the ground with a red barrier around them. He flew forward and placed a hand on Red’s barrier and smiled. “Bingo,” he muttered. “Let’s get out of here. Open up,” he said and the barrier stayed up. “It’s me! Keith, your-- I am your paladin!” he shouted up stepping back slightly.

Blasts shot around him and he dodged them all. Keith then wiped around and moved his right arm. A blue shield formed and he held it up so that it covered his chest and head from the blasts. “We’re connected!” Keith shouted then thought about what Allura said about Red.  _ ‘Even though you are their Paladin, you’ll still need to earn their respect,’ _ she had said. “How?” he muttered to himself as the shots continued to come at him. He then lowered his hand to his thigh where two lines were and there was two beeps.

His bayard then materialized in his hand and he brought it up. He then swung it back and the sword formed. He ran forward and swung the sword at the nearest droid, moving his shield up then cutting it down. Keith then turned to the next droid and cut their legs off and he then felt a pressure to his chest. He went backwards then and grunted as he slid back to a control panel. He went onto his knees and looked between the panel and the droids before looking forward with a determined look.

At his thoughts, the lower part of his helmet was covered so that he could still breath and he slammed his hand down onto a button and the floor opened up as his wings retracted into his suit. All the air in the room was getting sucked out and along with it, the droids. Keith gripped the panels edge as the droids and loose objects flew from the room out into space. Keith grunted as he felt space pulling him out but continued to keep his grip while looking at Red. What looked like a pipe came at him and he tried ducking his head to dodge it but it connected with his head.

As he dangled by one hand, he was glad he had retracted his wings. He grit his teeth together and reached his free hand out to the button and felt something slam onto his hands. He yelled out in pain and let go, getting pulled out into space and he held onto his hand that most likely had broken fingers. His breath was heavy as he looked around before he looked back to the ship. Coming to him was Red and he let aa small smile grace his lips as Red scooped him up before blasting to the fight.

He landed on a chair somehow and it slid into the cockpit which glowed in a red hue from the board and he smiled again as the mask disappeared. He then let his wings out and stretched them, happy to let them out of the uncomfortable position. “Good kitty. Let’s roll,” he said and he heard an answering rumble as they went to the fight.

**XXX**

Katie and Shiro ran into the room full of escape pods and Shiro looked around as Katie stopped halfway to the pods. She waved her hand toward Shiro and the pods, wings puffed up in anxiousness and worry. “Hurry!” she yelled and the prisoners ran to the pods as fast as they could.

“Halt!” a droid called and Katie gasped as she saw droids coming at them. Shiro ran over to her and herr wings went tense in fear. Shiro moved his cyborg arm in front of him and it started glowing purple and he groaned, going down to one knee as he clutched it.

“Shiro?” Katie called as the droids continued forward. “Shiro, what’s wrong?” she asked. Shiro continued gripping his hand but he looked up slightly, wings going up in preparation and then he went forward with astounding speed. His arm continued to glow but he used that to his advantage and cut down the droids with it, flying to each one before he made it to the last one and pushed his fist through the droids lower torso. It then clangs to the ground and they both looked over at the pod as it slowly went out with its door closing.

“Thank you, Shiro,” the tall gray alien said right as the door closed and the pod went out.

“Wait! How did you….?” Shiro went forward, hand up as he tried asking but then stopped. Katie then punched his arm.

“Shiro, that was amazing!” she said and he looked down at her. “Let’s get back to Green,” she said and they both ran out of the room.

**XXX**

Hunk moved yellow so that she was facing the barrier and blasted a laser from her mouth and it hit. He then moved around slightly and he saw cracks forming where he hit. “Come on, just break, you stupid thing!” Hunk said as more cracks formed around the area of where the laser is hitting. Behind him, his wings were up and tense ever so slightly waiting for the barrier to break open. The barrier around the cannon creaked once more before breaking apart and Hunk cheered, wings relaxed and up in joy. “Score one for Hunk!” he shouted as he flew Yellow forward toward the cannon.

Over the comms he heard Lance chuckle slightly at him. He then rammed Yellow into the cannon hard, pushing the metal far into the cannon until it was touching. He then went backwards and slammed it again and saw fighters coming at him. He then flew off as Blue flew by. Blue then turned toward the cannon and opened her mouth and Hunk pushed Yellow away right as a blue beam came out and hit the cannon and the fighters going by it. “I thought you wanted me to take the cannon out?” Hunk said and Lance’s image appeared.

“ _ I did. But you were in trouble so I decided to help you with the fighters  _ and _ cannon by shooting my ice ray _ ,” he reasoned and Hunk nodded. Just then, Red and Green flew overhead and both Hunk and Lance cheered.

“You made it!” he shouted.

“ _ Kitty Rose has left the stage! _ ” Katie shouted.

“ _ Let’s get the heck out of here, _ ” Lance said and both he and Hunk flew their Lions away after the other two.

“I hope we stopped the cannon. That was hard denting the metal,” Hunk commented as they flew down to Arus as the ship slowly limped toward Arus’s atmosphere. They passed the atmosphere and made their way to the castle and Lance smiled as he saw the barrier up.

“Pidge?” he called softly into his earrings and he heard shuffling.

“ _ Yes? _ ” Allura’s voice called and Lance smiled.

“We’re coming in with Red. Get prepared for Black to come out!” he said happily and Allura gave a small shout of joy.

“ _ Alright. I’m opening up the way to the outside of Black’s bay. Lead them to her, _ ” she said.

“Will do,” he answered and then he turned on his comms. “Paladins,” he called out and he heard them make noises of acknowledgement. “Follow me, I’ll lead you to Black’s bay,” he said.

“ _ Will do, Lance, _ ” Shiro said and the Lions followed behind Blue except for Red who flew beside her. They then touched down outside of big doors with Voltron’s symbol on it glowing the Altean blue. Blue and Red where on one side and Yellow and Green on the other. Green lowered her head and Shiro ran out to stand in front of all the Lions as they all waited in their lions.

Everyone watched as each other's Lion’s eyes lit up a golden color and the doors lights increased in brightness and Lance bit his lip. He felt Blue’s comforting presence as she purred at him reassuringly. The door then slide up with a creak and it slowly showed Black to them. The door slide to a stop and they waited silently for a few seconds before Black lit up, her eyes glowing gold. She then reared her head up and roared. The Lions then followed suit too and roared before waiting patiently. “ _ Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now! _ ” she shouted over into Lance’s ear and he winced slightly at her loud tone.

“Shiro hurry!” Lance said and Shiro nodded as Black lowered her head opening her jaw. Shiro ran into Black and her eyes glowed once more and she let off a roar before pushing up and flying up the bay to an opening. The rest of the Lion’s followed suite and they exited the castle and then landed on the bridge. Shortly after that, the cannon shot at them. The barrier stopped it but it shook everything and everyone groaned. Outside on the barrier, red and orange swirled around as the blast cooled down and Lance grit his teeth together, trying to keep himself calm.

“ _ Hey, _ ” he heard a voice and turned to see Keith’s face on the screen. “ _ Just breath, follow me _ ,” he said and Lance nodded, breathing in time with Keith and he felt his heart rate slow down a bit. The blast soon stopped and everything stopped shaking around.

“ _ Man, those Galra guys repair things fast _ ,” Hunk said and Lance nodded.

“They must have gotten better at repairing faster. I should have thought of that,” he muttered quietly enough that the team almost missed it but understood him still.

“ _ It’s ok, Lance. You did your best at remembering everything the Galra did and could have done. No one’s blaming you _ ,” Shiro said and Lance nodded.

“Thanks,” he said before they all turned back to the battleship coming down slowly.

“ _ I can give you cover with the castle defenses but you’ll have to hurry to destroy that cannon, _ ” Allura called.

“ _ Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you’ve got! _ ” Shiro began and everyone looked forward with a determined gaze. “ _ This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me? _ ” Shiro finished and all the Lions roared agreement. “ _ Let’s do this! _ ” he shouted and they ran forward and through the barrier. They ran across the bridge as fighters flew all around them shooting lasers. “ _ Um, anyone have any ideas on how to form Voltron? _ ” Shiro asked.

“ _ Um, I don’t see a ‘combine into giant robot’ button anywhere on my dashboard, _ ” Hunk said and they jumped off the ruined bridge onto soil. Soon a beep was heard and small videos of everyone popped up in Blue and they looked at Lance expectantly.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. Ilek didn’t tell me how its done. Just that it comes naturally after fighting with friends,” Lance said lowering his gaze.

“ _ This is crazy! _ ” Katie shouted as she stopped Green and turned her around to attack a fighter. “ _ Can’t they cease fire for one moment so that we can figure this out? Or is that too much to ask? _ ” she demanded and Lance nodded.

“Knowing the Galra, it is,” he replied running over the ground. Keith then stops his Lion to attack before speaking.

“ _ We’ve got to do something, _ ” he said and everyone nodded agreement. Yellow then came barreling down and rammed into Red.

“ _ COMBINE! _ ” yelled Hunk and Red rolled away slightly and Yellow lowered her head even though Lance could tell she was amused.

“ _ Hey! _ ” Keith shouted after he groaned and as Red stood up.

“ _ Ok, that didn’t work, _ ” Hunk said defeatedly. Laser fire then rained down on them and they ran away dodging all the shots. All the paladins videos then went off and Allura’s face came up.

“Pidge!” Lance hissed but Allura just shrugged.

“ _ Paladin’s, you must hurry! Our levels are getting low! _ ” she shouted before grunting and the video went down.

“ _ Everybody! Maybe if we fly in formation, we’ll just combine _ ,” Shiro said and Lance felt Blue shake her head before looking up.

“Shiro,” Lance called and he heard Shiro grunt.

“ _ What is it, Lance? _ ” he asked.

“I don’t think that’s gonna work,” he said. “I know for sure that, that’s not how the Paladin’s first formed Voltron together. And, the battleship is sorta following us with its tractor beam,” he continued and he felt Blue purr again.  _ My pilot, _ she began,  _ you must feel the bonds with your other paladins and have a reason that everyone shares to form Voltron, _ she finished and Lance nodded, though he decided to wait to tell them that since they didn’t have time to feel the bonds with each other or find a common goal. They then went off the cliff and started flying before moving apart to not get hit. Only Katie got stuck since she couldn’t move in time. Shiro managed to get out but Black’s tail had gotten caught but he managed to put out.

They flew around destroying fighters that went to close to them while ones far away tried herding them into the beam. While they moved around they tried coming up with a plan to free Katie. The ion cannon fired at the castle again and the barrier went down and Lance gasped. “ _ I don’t care what you say, Shiro. I’m panicking now! _ ” Hunk shouted and a fighter hit him and he went spinning into the ray and froze there. He then started shouting in terror as they all moved about. Lance saw the ion cannon lighting up and knew it was going to hit the castle and kill his sister and Coran.

“Nooo!” Lance shouted, fear lacing his words.

“ _ We have to believe in ourselves, _ ” Shiro started looking at Katie and Hunk. “ _ We can’t give up even though things look bad. We are the Universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us! We can’t fail! We won’t fail! If we work together, we’ll win together! _ ” Shiro said and everyone nodded with determined looks.

“Yeah!” everyone shouted and they all felt a pull. Lance smiled as he realized they were forming Voltron when he felt the others presences in his mind and all the Lions roared from where they were. Yellow and Green break free of the tractors hold, flying in separate ways and Lance can see the others also flying different ways too. He can feel his going where she needed and Lance smiled as he could feel everyone's minds and felt the Lions presences clearly while being Voltron. They then went onto the ship and pushed the cannon away, making the shot go wide, missing the castle by a good amount.

Smoke surrounds the ship from their hit to the cannon. The smoke then clears and Lance can feel that Red is clutching the cannon in her mouth and he smiles. “ _ I can’t believe it! _ ” Keith said shocked.

“ _ We formed Voltron! _ ” Katie shouted happily.

“ _ I’m a leg! _ ” Hunk shouted with equal glee.

“I knew we could do it!” Lance shouted.

“ _ Let’s deal with that cannon, _ ” Shiro said before having the Red and Green Lion’s grab onto the cannon and pulled on it. There was a loud creaking and groan and the cannon was ripped from its place, sparks and smoke coming from both ends and Voltron threw it away and it landed on a deserted mountain base, clouds puffed up. Shiro then flew them around and pushed either Red or Green through the metal and blasted rays through the ship causing it to blow up. He then had them fly off a ways before flying straight at the ships back with both of Voltron’s arms forward and they went through smoothly.

Shiro then flew them down as the battleship exploded behind them and they landed on the ground. They then separated and Lance felt dizzy slightly from all the clear presences fading and he only vaguely felt the other lions. They all went to the bridge and exited their Lions as Coran and Allura came out. “Good work, Paladins!” she said with her hands clasped together and she went over to Lance and hugged him. “Ilek would be proud,” she whispered before pulling back and Lance gave her a small, sad smile while nodding.

“We did it,” Shiro agreed and Hunk sat onto the ground.

“Heck yeah, we did,” Keith said pulling his helmet off.

“How did we do it?” Shiro asked and they looked between all the Alteans.

“I believe it was because we all had a common goal that we all wanted to do,” Lance said before looking over and saw Katie looking down as she placed on her glasses that Lance found out were her brothers. He then walked over to her and wrapped both an arm and wing around her. “We’ll find them,” he he said smiling and Shiro nodded agreement and she smiled thankfully at them. Shiro then placed a hand on her shoulder with a smile.

“Wherever they are, I’m sure they’re proud of you,” he said and her eyes widened in surprise before closing slightly to look at him fondly, thankful for his hopeful, reassuring words.

“We won the battle, but the war has only just begun,” Allura started and everyone looked at her. I’m afraid Zarkon and Haggar will not stop until they get these Lions,” she said and Coran stepped forward slightly.

“Good thing you paladins know what you’re doing, because you’re going to have to form Voltron again and again,” Coran said.   
“Totally. Wait, what?” Hunk asked leaning forward and Lance did as well to peer at his sister and Coran.

“Um, we barely pulled through and made Voltron as it is. They-we- are not ready to do this everyday,” Lance said and Coran nodded.

“And you only had to fight one ship,” Coran stated going forward with a finger pointed at them. “Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them!” he said throwing his hands up and Lance rolled his eyes as Coran’s antics even though they were similar to his own. “It’s not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe,” he finished pulling and twisting his mustache.

“Defenders of the Universe, huh?” Shiro said smiling softly as everyone else looked shocked. He then turned to the Lion’s and the turned with him. “That’s got a nice ring to it,” he finished smiling up as the Lion’s then started shifting sizes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Ok again, sorry for the delayed update, I’ve been working hard on this and this update is later than my usual ones since it is past ten pm where I am. So sorry. Also, I FINALLY FINISHED EPISODE 1!!!! Ok, sorry, I’m very happy. I hope you enjoyed this chap! Please comment.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait. this is kinda a filler with fluff and cuteness with kinda a sad thing. you'll see

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so long time no update! Sorry about that, literally my fam wanted to hang out since I was gonna move in a few and on sunday I finally moved and after that, I needed to get some things unpacked, and get adjusted. Not to mention getting used to the time change. Fun, so please don’t be upset with me.  
> Also, there’s gonna be some explainin done in the beginning, just some random stuff before I go onto the next episode. And I am writin like three other stories, only one that won’t be published for a good amount. The other two the music and avatar the last air bender ones will be published eventually. And the skating one, we’ll see. I just got so many things to write. Yesh. OK here’s the story!  
> Tumblr: paladinwilla  
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

Lance looked around the juniberry fields that surrounded him and his father. After the battle, he took Keith to the pods to heal his broken hand. After that when they went to rest, he couldn’t rest and decided to go to see his father. Two of the mice were with him on the floating tray making a tea that would help him relax and maybe sleep. Alfor was sitting beside him and they were silent. “Father, what happened after I went unconscious?” Lance asked finally.

“ _ After I caught you when you were struck, I led Coran to the cryopods and he placed Allura in one before helping me with you. We decided to hide you alongside with Blue wherever Ilek decided to hide her. Since there was a chance someone might find you, we took your things off, placed you in more regular clothing and was able to get Blue to go into your mind and get you to subconsciously change. She managed to get your brain to stay in that disguise for years, but coming out of it left you exhausted. After you changed, we placed you in cryofreeze and then when Ilek went to hiding, put you in Blue in a portable cyropod that would keep you frozen, _ ” Alfor explained and Lance nodded.

“So you don’t know why I ended up waking early?” Lance asked and Alfor shook his head.

“ _ I’m sorry, son. I do not know. Blue might know though, _ ” he stated and Lance nodded. The mice squeaked and he turned to see them floating closer and nodded taking the tea cup from the tray. He raised the cup to his lips and took a deep sip from it and sighed. The warm liquid coursed through his body, warming everything in its wake. He smiled lowering the cup while looking at Alfor. “ _ So you say the Red Paladin is of Galra descent? A half-breed? _ ” Alfor asked and Lance nodded picking a juniberry from the ground.

“Yeah. He didn’t know of it until the castle did the scan on us when we entered,” Lance explained before blowing the petals off of the stem. “Though Coran said he’d work on making a serum that will allow Keith to change between the two as he wants,” Lance finished and he smiled at Alfor. Alfor smiled back at his son, happy to see Lance relaxing.

“ _ From what Zarkon told me before the Great War started was that once a half-breed can change between their two species, usually when they turn twelve, they have the instincts of the Galra come out and do things that are Galra like. Though it seems Keith already has some instincts showing since there is no known serum to hide all of it, _ ” Alfor said and Lance nodded.

“I guess so,” Lance said and Alfor nodded. The door opened and both looked to see Blue, Red and Keith there. Blue ran toward him and he smiled as Blue went onto his lap. Red and Keith both arrived beside him soon after and he quickly gave Red a pat before Blue went off and started playing with Red.

“Come on, you need to sleep,” Keith said and Lance looked away.

“ _ Lance, go rest. I’ll be here for you whenever you need me, _ ” Alfor said and Lance nodded.

“I know, I just can’t sleep…..” Lance let the sentence hang, his wings went to the ground limply, and both Alfor and Keith knew why.

“I’ll help,” Keith said going into a crouch beside Lance. Lance gave a slow nod as he placed the cup back onto the tray and Keith grabbed his arms. Keith then pulled Lance up and let him lean against his chest. Keith kept one hand on Lance’s arm and placed the other on the back of Lance’s neck and started massaging there. A sigh escaped Lance and his eyelids fell down closing. A chuckle ringed and Keith looked up to see it was Alfor who was laughing.

“ _ Take care of my stubborn son, _ ” he said and Keith nodded right as the hologram went off and they were bathed in a dim blue glow. The two mice climbed up onto Lance’s shoulders, rubbing at his neck and Lance smiled. Lance then let off a big yawn, leaning back into Keith. A small smile graced Keith’s face as he placed his other arm under Lance’s legs. He pulled Lance up to his chest as the mice squeaked in slight surprise. Lance curled into him with a content sigh, his face peaceful. Keith walked from the deck with Blue and Red leading the way to Lance’s chambers as he rubbed his arm soothingly. As they walked, the tips of Lance’s wings dragged lightly across the ground and Keith’s own wings were relaxed as he walked.

“You’ll be fine,” Keith said soothingly and Lance seemed to snuggle further into his chest as he walked down the halls and the mice squeaked their agreement as they scampered up to his shoulders. Keith smiled at them before turning down a hall that Red and Blue went down and at the end of it was two doors that were presumably Allura’s and Lance’s rooms. He walked up to the room that Blue and Red were standing in front of and looked at the mice. “Mind giving me a hand?” he asked and the mice shook their heads before the two crawled down his arm, over Lance’s legs and reached to the panel.

The small mouse pushed the panel and the door hissed open and Keith walked in. On the far wall was a window that showed out the sea lapping against the shore on Arus, the sky a deep blue-purple color. Underneath the window was a desk that had some things strewn on it including Lance’s bayard. To the right was a bed that was about the size of a queen bed back on Earth. On the bed was light blue sheets and a few pillows. To the left was a door leading to what he could assume was a bathroom and beside it closer to the door that Keith walked through was a dresser. Keith walked over to the bed and gently placed Lance down on it and the mice snuggled by his head.

Keith then climbed onto the bed and leaned against the wall and pulled Lance up so his head was laying on Keith’s stomach. Lance let off a small hum and snuggled more into Keith as he pulled the blanket over them both. He then raked a hand through Lance’s hair, brushing through the strands and a small smile pulled at Lance’s mouth in his sleep. Feeling Lance’s weight on him and his steady breathing, Keith was lulled to sleep himself.

**XXX**

Coran walked down the hall toward the royal’s rooms and opened Allura’s door first. Allura was in her bed asleep and Coran sighed in relief. He had been able to get Allura to actually get some rest with difficulty and didn’t put it past her to try and leave. But there she was, curled on her bed with two mice by her face. He smiled softly at her and closed the door, he then went to the other room where Lance would be sleeping.

He felt bad for the boy, Lance was like a son to Coran. He knew Lance had a lot happen since he was young when the war started and ended up on a mysterious planet with no memory of before eleven and then having all your memories restored to find out you were never what you thought you were. Coran had a feeling that Lance would have problems sleeping. The door hissed open and inside was Lance and Keith. Keith was slumped against the wall with Lance lying partly on Keith’s chest with a blanket laying on their legs. By Lance’s head were two of the mice that were in the pods with Allura. Coran smiled, he could assume that Allura asked two of them to go and be with Lance knowing this was a trying time for him. On the ground in front of the bed was Red and Blue curled around each other as they rested. He then closed the door and went down to check the other Paladin’s.

**XXX**

Lance blinked blearily and looked around and noticed he was in his room. He then realized that he had his arms around Keith who was still sleeping. A blush went up Lance at the fact that he had curled into Keith in his tired state. He then continued looking and saw that the two mice that had been with him were on his pillow asleep and on the floor by the bed was Red and Blue curled together. Lance smiled at the sight and slowly got up to not disturb the mice or Keith. He then stepped onto the floor and both the Lions looked at him.

“I’m fine,” he said to Blue and she purred, lowering her head back down with Red placing her head on top. He then went into the bathroom and got cleaned up. He pulled on an altean shirt that used to be his fathers and pulled on his jacket that his adoptive mother gave him. He then pulled on some bottoms and his shoes before grabbing a towel and rubbing it through his hair to dry it. Once his hair was only lightly damp, he settled the towel out to dry itself and grabbed the circlet and put it then placed his communication earrings on. Lance then walked back into the room and saw that Keith was getting up slowly. “Morning,” Lance said and Keith looked at him.

“Morning,” he replied slowly sitting up. “Sleep well?” he asked, fully awake finally.

“I slept fine,” he said and Keith nodded. “The others are probably getting up now,” he said and Keith got from the bed and went into the bathroom and got cleaned up himself. After a little he came out and by then both the Lions and the mice were up. Blue and the two mice went on Lance’s shoulders. Red walked to the door and the two followed, Lance reached out and pressed the panel making the door open up for them. They then walked out and Red was in front leading the way to the kitchen. They soon entered and Hunk was already there looking around with Katie on the couches in the adjoining room tinkering on something with both Rover and Green with her.

On the counter was Yellow and soon she was joined by Red and soon Blue jumped to the counter. “Morning,” Lance greeted and Hunk turned and smiled.

“Morning,” he replied stirring a spoon in a bowl. Hunk’s wings were up, puffed up ever so slightly showing that he was excited about something.

“Whatcha making?” Lance asked sitting on the counter, wings going behind him to relax over the back.

“Well, I’m hoping that this mix of ingredients will make pancakes,” Hunk said with a smile and Lance smiled back.

“Really? That’s awesome!” he replied and Hunk nodded.

“So how’s it coming?” Katie asked from across the room still typing away translating things for everyone.

“I think it’s going well. I should be able to start cooking them soon,” Hunk said walking over to the stove that they figured out a little bit ago.

“Cool,” she replied and Lance turned to Keith.

“Well?” Lance asked and Keith shrugged.

“From what I’ve had, pancakes aren’t that great,” he replied and Lance made an indignant sound while assuming look of disbelief and placing a hand on his chest.

“Well, you shall taste a truly magnificent pancake. Hunk is the best chef ever and will blow your mind with his amazing pancakes,” Lance replied his wings perked up and Keithcocked his head to the side.

“Really? He even said he hoped it would create pancakes. Not that it would,” Keith said and Lance nodded.

“Alright. You got me there,” Lance said with a small grimace. “But! If he is able to, then you will be able to taste the beginning of Hunk’s amazing cooking skills,” he said and Hunk looked away flustered slightly by his friends praise.

“Thanks Lance,” Hunk said and Lance nodded.

“Welcome bro,” he said and turned back to Keith.

“Ok then,” Keith said under Lance’s gaze before turning back to the kitchen. Behind them the way that Lance and Keith came from opened up and they turned to see Shiro and Coran walking in.

“Morning Coran, Shiro!” Lance called and Coran waved while walking toward him.

“Good Morning, Lance,” he greeted, wing ruffling Lance’s hair. Lance giggled slightly at it before Coran stopped.

“Coran, you’re about try one of Earth’s dishes,” Lance cheered happily and Coran twirled his mustache.

“Well, this should be a great experience,” he said and Lance nodded.

“Yup. Where’s ‘Llura?” he asked and Coran hummed slightly.

“Last I saw she was in her room actually sleeping. But I’ll go see if she’s awake. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to try this,” he said and Lance nodded. Coran left the room and Lance leaned against Keith as Hunk started cooking the batter on a pan he found. After a while Coran comes back in with Allura and she sits down beside Lance looking curious at the pancakes already made that are a light blue from the ingredients.

“Are they usually that color?” she asked and Lance chuckled softly.

“No. They’re usually a brown color. But because of the ingredients we have on hand, they’re blue colored. Though back on Earth you could color pancakes and some other foods with food coloring. I remember my adoptive mom making my pancakes this purple color, heh,” he gave a soft laugh as he thought about the family that took him in.

“That sound interesting. Is that common to do?” she asked looking between the other occupants.

“Well, you could say it was. Most people didn’t because it was a hassle but some did it because it was fun. My family did it too,” Hunk said and the others nodded agreement. “Allura, Coran and Keith to some extent, you get the first pancakes since you’ve never had them before. But be warned, they might not taste exactly right but I’m sure they taste pretty similar,” Hunk said grabbing plates and placing the warm pancakes on them. He then placed them in front of them and they each grabbed a fork before taking a piece out of the blue pancakes.

They all took a bit and both Allura and Coran hummed before tucking into the pancakes and eating them. “These are amazing!” Allura said eyes wide once she swallowed. “You sure have a gift for cooking, Hunk,” she said and Hunk smiled shyly at the praise.

“It was nothing. I just felt like everyone could use some comfort food from Earth,” he said and they nodded.

“Though I gotta say, waffles are better but I can understand why they couldn’t be made,” Katie said and Lance snorted.

“No, pancakes are way better,” Lance said and Shiro gave a small nod agreeing with Lance. “Though it was funny. While staying at a hotel dad made a waffle using the waffle iron they have out for guests to use and some batter slide down the side making it look like a castle silhouette when it was cooked all the way!” Lance said laughing and everyone soon joined it. Lance’s laugh slowly stopped as he thought about that happy memory. “It sorta looked like this castle somehow now that I think about it. It was like the Universe itself was trying to remind me of my past,” he looked down and felt a hand on his shoulder and neck.

He raised his head and saw that Coran had placed his hand on his shoulder and that the hand on his neck was Keith’s. “It’s alright. You’re home finally,” Coran said and Lance nodded. He then felt a pressure on his neck and a sigh passed through his lips.

“Alright, here you go Lance! Fresh off the sorta pan!” Hunk said placing a plate in front of his sad friend. Lance looked up and saw a light steam coming from the pancakes.

“Thanks Hunk,” Lance said and Hunk nodded as he slowly got the rest of them their own plates. Blue laid down beside his plate as he ate and he raised a hand to pat her as he ate, content with his new but old family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, sorry again for posting it late. How long has it been? Three weeks maybe? Who knows! I don’t! So this was kinda fluffy i think, not much. And that story about the side becoming a small castle, that happened to my dad while we stayed in a hotel while our house was being tented. It was hilarious, we took a picture. I hope next chap won’t be as long of wait but I can’t promise anything. Luv ya my amazing readers! <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> training finally happens and stories from the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Sorry ‘bout the wait had some stuff to do. On a happy note, I FINALLY GOT TO GO TO AN ARCHERY RANGE!! I know, not relevant but I’ve been iching to go to one for like a year now since I the one in my old state closed down and the new state I’m livin in has one relatively close to the apartment. Ya, so again sorry about the wait.
> 
> Also, Altean time will be used so here’s a little key:
> 
> Days: Quintants
> 
> Hours: Varga
> 
> Minutes: Doboshes, and seconds you should know.
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

 

Lance looked down at the panel he was typing on and he turned to look at Allura. “I think that about finishes it. The alarms should be good as new now,” he said and Allura nodded.

“Good, we can then also time the new Paladins,” she said and Lance’s eyes widened.

“It’s literally been a day since they were sorta forced out into space. All of this is new for them, they’re still adjusting to everything” Lance warned and Allura waved her hand.

“They need to be prepared to get ready and up here fast in case of an actual attack,” Allura said and Coran nodded agreement.

“Fine, go ahead. But know this, if one or more are angry at this false alarm, it’s all on you, Lura,” he said and Allura nodded.

“Fine, I shall take it in stride,” she said and raised a hand to the button to test out the alarms. “Coran, ready with the timer?” she asked and Coran nodded holding up a device that Lance knew wasn’t the timer but didn’t say anything.

“You do know that they aren’t told they should be changed and ready right? Plus Katie is in the healing chamber and only Shiro really knows where the armor is stored in their temporary rooms right?” he asked and Allura nodded. “Ok go ahead then,” Lance said backing up toward the panel again. “You asking for them to fail even if they knew what was happening,” he muttered quietly to himself.

The alarms blared to life and he himself went off to the lift by his station to change just to make sure he was ready himself.

“ _ Everybody up! Zarlon’s attacking! _ ” Allura’s voice rang through the castle as he came back out in a change of under five doboshes. He let off a sigh as he went back to the panel and leaned against it. “The Castle’s about to be destroyed!” she shouted.

“Umm if the castle’s about to be destroyed how are they going to form Voltron?” Lance asked Coran who just shrugged.

“Go, go, go! We need Voltron now! Hurry we can’t survive much longer!” she shouted and Lance rolled his eyes.

“Once they feel the castle under attack they’ll know when its a drill and when it’s real,” he said and Coran nodded but walked forward wanting to join in

“You really need to sell it a bit more,” Coran said as he cleared his throat and took the speaker from Allura. Coran then turns away and starts shouting with the most ridiculous face. “OH NO! ALLURA IS DEAD! Aw, it’s horrible! Her head fell off!” he shouted running a hand across his throat showing it being cut off. Allura looks at Coran in surprise while Lance’s eyes merely widen. Coran then crouches down like he’s talking to someone on the ground. “Wait! What? Her severed head is trying to speak to me!” he shouted, hand by his ear and Lance turned to the door.

“What is it, Allura’s head? What are your final words?” he asked with tears in his eyes. The door hissed open and the gang runs in and Lance snickers as Coran continues oblivious to them.

Lance then walks over to them and leans against Keith as they look between him and the other two Alteans in question. “Coran?” Allura calls.

“Oh yes, Princess, I’m listening,” he says and Allura looks down at him done with his craziness.

“It’s over,” she said and Coran goes up with a groan, arms flailing in the air.

“Oh, I know! If only Voltron had been formed,” he called looking down and finally seeing the team in the room and Lance chuckled a bit. “Oh! Time!” he shouted springing up to stand and throwing the speaker back with a clatter.

“I guess this wasn’t an actual attack,” Shiro said, helmet held against his hip as Katie rubbed her eye with Rover above her and Hunk scratching his side. Keith was relaxed slightly with a bored expression and wrapped an arm around Lance.

“And it’s a good thing it wasn’t because it took you…..Coran?” she asked turning to the advisor.

“Seventy-five degrees,” he said looking at the thermometer and Lance let the laugh out at that answer and Keith smirked as Katie let off a snort. “Oh, sorry. Not, this is a meat thermometer,” he said holding the device out with a innocent expression that also told that he was sorry.

“However long it was-” she began and Lance cleared his throat.

“About twenty-five doboshes,” he said helpfully.

“-It was too long,” she finished glaring at them. Shiro was serious as he listened to Allura while Hunk was sad, his wings drooping to the ground as Katie was still asleep slightly and Keith was just bored. “You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Shiro and my brother are in uniform,” she said and Lance stepped forward.

“I was here with my uniform at the ready, Shiro like I said knew slightly where his would be while the others don’t,” Lance said while he crossed his arms.

“Keith, Katie, Hunk, where are your bayards?” she asked undeterred by Lance’s reasoning. She then walked toward them with Coran a step behind her. “Coran, Lance and I have been up for hours getting the castle back in order,” she said. “We had to run a test on the alarms, and we decided to test you as well,” she stopped in front of them with a serious expression. “Guess which one failed,” she asked.

“Hey!” Hunk started before a yawn escaped him and everyone turned to him. “You two got to sleep for 10,000 years and Lance slept like ten or whatever less years, man. Monday night, I was on Earth,” he started and Lance nodded slightly as Hunk then tapped his fingers listing off things.

“Now I’ve flown through space, made pancakes with alien ingredients, had Lion’s that we are Paladins for change size and follow us, eaten goo in some weird castle. That’s a lot to process in, uh….” he turned away while he talked before scratching the back of his head as he stopped, not knowing how long it’s been. “I don’t know. What day is today?” he asked and Coran went forward.

“It’s the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!” he shouted with a smile before backing up and Lance snorted.

“Ok, one, how do you know of hump day? That’s an Earth thing. And two, it’s Wednesday, Hunk,” Lance said and the two smiled, one in thanks, the other in feigned innocence. “You got it when the machine went through my head to help get my memories back, didn’t you?” he asked resigned to it and Coran nodded.

“Yup, it’s quite interesting comparing things from out two worlds and cultures,” he said and Lance had to nod agreement.

“It’s a lot to process,’ Hunk finished and Lance nodded.

“That’s what I tried to tell you Lura,” he said and she nodded.

“You must understand the stakes of our mission,” she said raising a hand and a hologram board appeared and she typed on it. “Over the last 10,000 years, the castle has picked up distress beacons from the following locations,” the board disappeared and a holo map came up with all the planets. Then planets that had beacons up lit up red which was most of the planets they were around. “So we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe,” she said before swiping her hand and making the map move. “Earth is here,” she said going to a system that was far off into the blue that was safe. “An attack on your planet is inevitable,” she finished.

“No one is disagreeing with the stakes Allura. But you can’t force them to do something with no prior knowledge and expect them to succeed. They at least need some details about what you want them to do,” Lance said as Hunk looked down at Earth in worry with a quiet ‘oh, no,’.

“Part of our mission is to free all those planets,” she said and Lance nodded.

“Of course but this isn’t an easy task,” he said.

“Coran, and I are getting the castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so we can begin fighting Zarkon,” she said and Shiro nodded.

“The Princess is right. Let’s get to our lions and start training,” he said and the door opened and all the lions walked in, each going to their paladins.

“Or they come to us,” Lance said with his lips quirking up and Katie smiled back.

“Yup,” she agreed. “Wait, what about the prisoners?” she asked and Coran stepped forward.

“Sorry, Number Five,” he said bent over with his arms going to Katie’s height. “I have you ranked by height, ok?” he asked before standing straight to talk again. “The ex-prisoners need remain in the cyro-replenishers until tomorrow,” he said with a small smile.

“Tomorrow Katie,” Lance said and she nodded.

“Right, now get to your lion’s bays,” she said and they went to their own lifts with the lions and made their way through to the bays. Soon everyone was outside and they waited for Hunk.

“Um, should someone go check on Hunk?” Lance asked and Blue purred in his mind showing that Hunk was having difficulty with the system that took the paladins to the bay and snickered. Right then, Hunk came out with Yellow all the while apologizing.

“Hi guys. Sorry, everybody,” he said landing and all the lions turned around. “Can’t they make the bays closer to the bridge?” he asked and Lance shook his head.

“Can’t budy but we can try making it easier for ya,” he suggested and Hunk hummed in agreement.

“All right, guys. Let’s just fly in tight formation until we’re totally in sync,” Shiro said and then a comm opened up and Allura was shown.

“ _ Feel the bond with your lions and fellow pilots until five become one unit and you form Voltron! _ ” she said and they had the lions go forward with an excited ‘yeah!’. They all fly in formation with each time they pass over they shout in excitement for a few hours.

“Whoo,” Hunk calls out with boredom. “Am I the only one who’s still pretending to be excited?” he asked.

“Clearly this isn’t working. Let’s set down for a bit,” Shiro suggested and they all set the lions on the ground.

“Maybe we should be building Voltron from the ground up,” Keith suggests.

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked.

“I mean, let’s try literally building Voltron like stacking on top of each other,” he said and Lance let out a cough to get their attention.

“Um, I hate to bring you down but that won’t really work. We need to feel each other to make Voltron and all have the same goal for it to happen. Right now we all have different reasons for being here and staying with Voltron,” Lance said. “Even if that idea did work Keith, how will we form Voltron if we’re on top of each other. They take off at the same time to make Voltron and well, being stacked is asking for something to happen,” he said and Shiro nodded.

“True but we can try it for now to feel the bonds,” Shiro said and Lance nodded.

“All right we can try,” Lance said and they slowly got into position, only Hunk wasn’t beside Lance. “Hunk, you’re supposed to be beside me as the leg,” he called out before they could continue.

“What, really?” he asked and everyone nodded.

“You shouted, ‘I’m a leg!’” Lance said.

“I shouted a lot of things,” Hunk said.

“Shiro’s the head, Katie and I are the arms and you and Lance are the legs,” Keith said.

“All the time?” he asked and everyone nodded slightly. “Fine, but I call head next time,” he said and Lance chuckled slightly.

“We’ll try, ok Hunk?” Lance asked and Hunk nodded before going to stand beside Lance in Yellow. The other lions then went on top of each other as Black was slowly lowered.

“Ok. Arms and legs….and I’ll form the head,” he said and Black landed on top with a slight creak and clang. “Feel the bonds with your lions. Now channel that energy into forming Voltron,” Shiro continued and everyone closed their eyes to concentrate. Lance felt Blue in his mind along with the other lions faintly and his wings perked up slightly, happy to feel the other lions. The other lions purred in his head as they felt him and he smiled.

_ Blue, do you know of any way to help? _ Lance thought to his friend and she purred in his mind.

_ You all need to trust each other and be connected to your lion, that’s all I can give you _ , she replied and Lance sighed.

“What is it Lance?” Shiro asked and Lance’s eyes snapped open realizing he sighed aloud.

“Oh, just asking Blue if she knew any way for us to form Voltron,” he said and Shiro popped up on the screen and he looked at Lance expectantly.

“She say anything?” he asked and Lance gave a shrug.

“Well yes technically but it’s nothing new. We need to trust each other and connect to our lions,” he said and Shiro nodded.

“Why don’t we take a quick break,” he said and the comm came on.

“ _ Sorry to interrupt, _ ” Allura began to which Lance scoffed knowing his sister wasn’t sorry, “ _ but I may be able to help, _ ” she said.

“Oh no,” Lance began. “I know where this is going,” he said.

“ _ Yesterday, you weren’t able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle _ ,” she said.

“Yeah,” Katie said.

“Your right,” Shiro said and Hunk also made a sound of agreement.

“ _ Perfect, _ ” she said with a smile that Lance recognized. “ _ Because I need to run a diagnostic test on all of the castle defenses _ ,” she said and Lance made a sound of disagreement.

“No!” Lance shouted and everyone looked at him through the video. “That’s a bad idea Allura. That won’t help,” he said and they looked curiously at him.

“Why do you say that?” Shiro asked.

“Well, we only formed when we all decided not to give up even though two were stuck in the beam and fighters were trying to get the rest of us in the beam too. We need to have a common goal and believe in each other because we trust each other, not because we have to. During that battle, we all trusted each other and that allowed us to form Voltron, this won’t help,” he said and Allura sighed.

“ _ Yes, why don’t you all come inside for a quick break to get hydrated then we shall continue the training, _ ” Coran said and Allura nodded.

“ _ Ok, we’ll still test the defenses once you’re in and make sure we don’t hit anyone, _ ” she said and Lance let off a sigh.

“What was with that sigh?” Shiro asked as they flew toward the castle.

“Father once had Allura run training one day  for him and his team when Coran was with the queen. After that day when Coran had somewhere else to be he’d get me to lead the training. She can be ruthless, even to her own family members,” he said and Shiro’s eyes widened and he heard the others suck in a deep breath. “She doesn’t even know it. All she knows is that I sometimes went into the training hall with the paladins,” he said with a smile and the smile faded as he continued to think back on the days of old and his wings drooped to the ground, becoming to heavy for him to keep up.

“Hey, it’s ok, Lance. I’m sure that was quite funny to see though. Your sister being brutal on her own father,” Hunk said, the only one who had any semblance of an idea to get Lance back to his cheery self.

“It was, father was panting, bent at the waist trying to get his breath while Ilek and Tsrra were on the ground leaning against each other only to fall down exhausted. Tsrra then curled up against Ilek, it was quite cute actually,” Lance said with a smile thinking back to that day. The green paladin, Hissis, she was the only one actually fine. She was a species that looked lizard like, like the lizard people from Star Wars The Clone Wars if you will. Her people lived on a hot, humid planet so this was nothing for her. Even Zarkon was sitting against the wall taking deep breaths,” he let off a laugh as they landed in the hanger and he heard the others laugh too.

“Really?” Hunk asked.

“Ya, she had Zarkon out of breath. If she had Hissis down then that would have been even more scary. Me and Coran had come in like that with Allura standing by father looking disappointed and we both just started laughing at the state they were in. Of course everyone was happy to see me and Coran since, I was friends with all the paladins, who wouldn’t want to be friends with a little kid, come on let’s be real, and Coran promised they’d go easy tomorrow since they were sore still, the only ones who moved out of the room were Hissis and Zarkon once he got his breathing back to normal and not like they just got out of a bad battle. Father left with the help of his wife since he still had a planet to run and say goodbye to Zarkon who was in line for the throne on his own home planet,” he continued with a smile.

“They sound amazing,” Shiro said once they were all in the lounge room in the middle of the castle that connected all the bays. They all sat down and the lions curled up next to them or went to another lion and started communicating.

“They were. You guys would have liked them, I just wish that they could have helped Zarkon resist that witch Haggar,” he said bitterly and everyone nodded.

“But there is good here,” Hunk said and they all looked over at him. “By that happening, you met us, your amazing adoptive family and Keith, your partner,” he said and Lance nodded agreement with a smile leaning against Keith.

“Ya I guess. It would have been amazing if we didn’t meet like this though,” he said and they nodded agreement.

“So what happened after you and Coran entered the room?” Katie asked hoping to get everyone back to something happy and Lance perked up.

“Tsrra and Ilek both looked at me with joy since they loved it when I was with them, they cared for me like a sibling or something. Everyone else smiled fondly at me as I ran over to the two exhausted on the ground and they hugged me before falling back to the ground and had me sitting between them. Hissis then came toward us and sat down and rubbed my head and asked how my day was. Soon they all kind of gathered there and Coran got them some food and drink while I talked about my day. They were pretty refreshed after that to do the maze and mind meld, easy trainings that took no time at all since they were all close and trusted each other. They even had me go in the maze with Ilek and Tsrra led us through, well me, Ilek was there so I didn’t do something stupid like run into a wall. He knew where the walls were from the map on his wrist just to make sure I would get hurt since I was still growing,” he continued and the he heard laughing and turned to see Coran and Allura there, only Coran was laughing.

“Are you telling them about the paladins of old and how Allura trained them one day?” he asked and Lance nodded. Coran then started laughing again while Allura looked slightly confused.

“What’s so funny?” she asked. Coran stood up.

“Oh it was hilarious seeing the Defenders of the Universe panting on the ground from your training. If I recall correctly, only Hissis was unaffected because of her home planet,” he said and Allura nodded slowly before a smile formed on her lips.

“I guess that would be pretty amusing,” she admitted and Lance nodded.

“It was cute seeing Ilek and Tsrra cuddling though. Those two were great for each other, like a perfect couple,” Lance said and Allura nodded.

“I’m pretty sure they made you an honorary son to them, they loved you so much. Father couldn’t help but be proud that you were getting along so swell with them,” Allura said fondly and Coran nodded.

“Indeed. Even though he was out of breath and it hurt, he didn’t stop smiling when he saw how happy the two were at seeing you enter the room,” Coran said and Lance wiped a tear away that had made its way down. Instead of feeling sad he was happy at thinking back to the past and just looking back fondly and being happy. “Why don’t we go to the training deck to do some more training?” Coran suggested.

“There’s a training deck?” Hunk asked and he nodded before leading them through the castle and soon they came to a split hallway. Coran and Allura went down one and Lance led them the other way.

“Training deck this way, they’re going to the control room for the deck,” he said with a small smile.

They entered the room and Lance activated a flashlight to led them to the center and soon the lights turned on. “ _ Two, two, one, two, _ ” Coran’s voice called out. “ _ Ok, listen up, guys. The paladin code demands that you put your team members’ safety above you own _ ,” he said and Lance looked around. “ _ So a swarm of drones is about to attack, _ ” he finished.

“Huh?” someone asked as shields formed for everyone. Lance saw Keith looking back at him before he turned back at the sound of the drones coming out.

“ _ It’s up to each of you to do everything you can to protect your fellow team mates. Good luck! _ ” Coran said cheerfully even though Hunk was confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so here’s the next chap! Not as long of a wait as before. And hope ya like! Remember: feel free to contact me if ya have any questions, theories or ya just wanna talk voltron!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa! Next chap. I have a feeling that this book will be long considering each episode takes like two chaps maybe. IDK since this is the first episode that’s not an hour long. We’ll see.
> 
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> 
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

 

All that was left was Keith, Shiro and Lance. They went back to back as the droids circled them faster until they became a blur of white. “You doing ok over there?” Lance asked the two as he leaned a bit and stopped a shot.

“Just fine. Stay concentrated,” Shiro called back and Keith grunted assent, focused on the exercise. They droids then went down and Lance lunged blocking a shot that would have hit Keith but then got hit himself when Keith couldn’t block one in time he fell through the hole with a shout and landed on his back with a thud. Hunk looked at him and Lance gave a wane smile. The hole opened again and Keith popped through and landed on top of him and Lance’s breath left with an ‘oof’ and he groaned as Keith sat up.

“Sorry,” he muttered getting off of Lance and turned to help him up when they heard the swish of the hole again and Lance started pushing himself back. Shiro came through the hole with a shout of warning and hit Lance. They lay on the ground groaning in pain and Lance looks at the ceiling with a defeated look.

“Why?” he muttered and Hunk shrugged. Through the comms they hear Coran sigh in frustration.

“ _ Get back up to the training deck, we’re doing the maze! _ ” Coran shouted with delight and Lance groaned.

“Why did you groan?” Hunk asked as they all made their way to a lift and piled on it.

“The maze is invisible and you have someone lead you through it. If you touch the wall you get shocked, it hurts even for Alteans. You remember when Katie tazed me?” he asked and they all nodded, Katie though  was sheepish at it. “It’s like that but most likely more so for you if you touch it for a good amount of time,” he said and all their eyes widened.

“Oh,” was all Hunk said and the rest of the ride up was silent. They stop at the deck and walk out with Lance leading the way back to the deck and he had Keith go up to the control room along with Hunk. He, Shiro and Pidge then walked onto the deck. Lance then waved them to the side as he walked to the center and placed his helmet on.

“ _ To form Voltron, you must trust in each other. This ancient paladin maze will teach you that trust. Your teammate can see the walls but you cannot, _ ” the walls formed around Lance and everyone saw them before they disappeared. All that was heard was the faint hum of the walls. “ _ So, listen carefully. If you touch the walls, you’ll get a slight shock _ ,” Coran finished and Lance rolled his eyes at that.

“Ready,” he called up.

“ _ Take two steps forward, _ ” Lance nodded and then followed Keith’s directions through the maze only getting shocked once when there was a miscommunication. Soon the others went and they all got shocked too, some worse some better. Soon everyone went through and Coran came down and told them to go outside and get inside their lions. They each grabbed their lions and then flew out of the room and through the halls toward the exit. They then set the lions down and they changed back to their normal size. They then flew off into the sky and waited for Coran’s explanation though Lance had a vague idea of what it is.

“ _ You will never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with your lion. Lance of course already has a good bond going because of his time with the previous paladin. Everyone, put your lions into a nose dive! _ ” he called and Lance muttered under his breath.

“ _ What was that Lance? _ ” Shiro asked and Lance turned to see the video of Shiro.

“I said I knew it. I know this one,” he said and Shiro nodded understanding and the video went down.

“ _ This is an expert level drill, you shouldn’t attempt until you’ve been flying for years, but we’re in a bit of a rush so here we go. Activating training helmets _ ,” he said and Lance’s visor darkened and he automatically closed his eyes. He heard everyone else gasp or make surprised sounds at it.

“This is supposed to happen guys, don’t freak out too much,” he said.

“ _ You must learn to see through your lion’s eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground, _ ” Coran called. “ _ Feel what the lion feels! _ ” Coran shouted and Lance heard some breathing heavily and someone whimper, probably Hunk he reasons.

“ _ Mine feels scared! _ ” Hunk shouted as he went off and Lance couldn’t blame him for it. The exercise they were doing was for paladins after years of fighting and bonding with their lions, not after a day or so of it.

“How’re you guys doing? Are you feeling the bond?” Lance asked.

“ _ Working on that _ ,” Keith called and Lance laughed.

“Can’t feel the bond. Wow, he can’t do something the first time,” he commented.

“ _ What’s that supposed to mean? _ ” Keith asked curious as he heard the slightly bitter but happy tone.

“Later” Lance replied and he concentrated on his bond with Blue. He soon feels the bond increase and could then see through his lion's eyes. He speeds up and pulls up before they hit the ground and he lets off a whoop of joy at succeeding and hears Shiro’s breath stop before continuing and he turns Blue’s head to see Shiro weaving through the canyon. “Go Shiro! You did it!” he called out and Coran cheers for the two of them.

In the distance he sees Keith in the ground and Pidge was on the canyon side when she tried leaving when she got to nervous. He wondered when she did that and reasoned that he was to deep into his bond to have heard her comment of leaving. He could feel the other lion’s and could tell that two were sore but didn’t blame their lions, Red was slightly bitter that her paladin didn’t get it but understood that it would take time and felt that Black was proud of her new paladin. He reached out to her and felt her brush his mind and purr contentedly. **_Once our bond is strong enough, my old bond with Zarkon will be completely broken,_** she said and he smiled.

“I know,” Lance whispered, his faith in the two absolute as he knew they could do it. They then set down in front of the castle and walk out of their lions. All the lions then change sizes and climb or walk by their paladins. Blue takes her usual spot on Lance’s shoulders, Green goes onto Katie’s head and the other three walk beside their paladins. Red would occasionally whack Keith’s foot as they walked and Keith would look at her confused.

Red then turned and looked at Keith with a exasperated expression on her face somehow and she communicated with Lance.  **Can he not tell I want to be held?** she asked and Lance shrugged with a smile. He then went forward and picked her up and she reached up to tap Blue’s paw.  _ Didn’t you want to be held by Keith? _ , Lance asked and she gave the notion of rolling her eyes.  **I did but he couldn’t figure it out. So now, I’m here and you can not stop me from playing with Blue,** she replied and he gave a nod.  _ Ok, fair enough. Keith can be…….oblivious to cues from people _ , he reasoned and Red nodded.  **You think?** Red asked snippily and Lance laughed aloud at that. Red would always sass her paladins if given the time, that would never change.

_ Ya, I know. I saw it at the Garrison,  _ so _ many people were hitting and throwing themselves at him but he didn’t do a thing. He kept avoiding them not realizing they wanted to go out with him _ , he responded finally and Red let out a roar that was of amusement at the thought. Lance and Blue joined in as the other lions and paladins looked at them curiously, wondering what was going on.

**_What’s so funny?_ ** Black asked and Blue told her and Black let off a sound that could have been a snicker and she told the other lions and they too snickered. “What’s so funny has all the lions…..doing that?” Keith asked and Lance smiled.

“Just something funny came up in a conversation with Red here,” he replied lifting Red up slightly.

“Wait,” Shiro stopped walking and they stopped too. “You can talk to the lions?” he asked and Lance nodded hesitantly.

“Ya, all royals can feel the lions. Only royals that are paladins can talk to the lions,” he explained and the others nodded. “Let’s get going! Coran wants to get a good amount of team bonding done,” he then walked ahead and heard the others. Coran directed them to the center of the room into the circle on the ground while handing them helmets. They all followed Lance’s lead and sat on the ground with the helmets on their heads. The lion’s then got comfortable by either laying on their laps or just resting their head on their paladins lap.

“ _ The most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron. Everything else has to fade away, _ ” he instructed and they all imagined something comfortable to them. Lance imagined both his biological and adopted family with Blue and her paladin and his mate there too since they were like a family to him. Keith had his shack with his bike imagined, Hunk had food, something Lance knew Hunk did when he got stressed that he stress cooked. Katie had her brother which she missed greatly and Shiro pictured the Garrison shuttle, something he must have found comforting was the stars.

“ _ This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between paladins. Come on, everyone, clear everything. Now, focus on forming your lion, _ ” they all then pictured their lions in their minds, forming the hologram in front of them. All the lions watched the process and saw that Katie was struggling to clear hers. Green rubbed her head against Katie’s stomach and she was able to imagine Green with a bit more ease. “ _ Bring your lions together and form Voltron. Keep your minds open, work together. Good _ ,” Coran said and all the hologram lions went together in the center. “ _ Good, almost there _ ,” Coran continued. “ _ Now, form Voltron _ ,” he said watching the proceedings with excitement.

His wings were perked up at the thought of them actually doing it. Lance breathed out when he could feel the hologram coming together, like he’s seen his father and old paladins do it after a particularly hard battle. His mind then slipped and his lion vanished, changing to Zarkon as he was bringing down his weapon. Lance gasped as his eyes flew open and he saw the image and scrambled backwards. He pulled the helmet off not wanting anyone to what he did and everyone looked at him in worry. His eyes were squeezed shut tight, hands clenched into fists and he was shaking his head slightly trying to remove the image.

Blue then went to him and rubbed against his legs. The other lions then got up and followed Blue’s example as the others watched. Both Blue and Red then turned and looked at Keith, jerking their heads toward Lance and he gave a small nod. He took the helmet off before walking over to Lance and kneeled down. He then pulled Lance gently toward him and rubbed his arms as he grabbed onto the collar of the armor. All the lions continued to rub against Lance while letting off comforting purrs. Soon Lance stopped shaking his head, his hand loosed from its death grip on Keith’s collar and his eyes relaxed. “It’s ok Lance. It’s just a memory, it won’t happen again,” Keith murmured and Lance nodded slowly opening his eyes and looking around before turning his head back to Keith.

“Sorry,” came his muffled response and Shiro got up and placed a hand on Lance’s shoulders once he kneeled on Lance’s other side. All the lions besides Blue and Red backed up away.

“No need to. I know it’s hard to keep bad memories away. This exercise needed a clear mind and a clear mind doesn’t have any walls to prevent memories like that,” Shiro said gently and Lance moved his head to he could look at Shiro. “Better?” he asked and Lance gave a minute nod. “How about we take a break?” he asked and everyone nodded agreement.

Soon Coran came down and handed everyone pouches of nutritious drinks. “You have been working hard. And after that, Lance you should get a bit of rest, a tired mind allows thoughts to wonder. That goes for everyone. You all earned a break,” he said crossing his arms.

“What are you doing lying around?” Allura asked and they all looked up at her curiously, Lance was leaning against Keith as Blue and Red laid on both their laps. “You’re supposed to be training!” she called looking determined with the mice on her shoulders.

“Just resting a bit. You know, you can’t push too hard and we had a bit of an incident with past happenings,” he said and Allura looked toward Lance who nodded giving her a wane smile.

“What do you mean, ‘can’t push too hard’?” she asked and Coran made an ‘oh shoot, it’s repeating’ face and Lance’s eyes widened. “Get you, you lazy lumps!” she said and Lance got up a bit shakily and waved his arms as everyone watched him. Both Coran and Keith were ready to catch or help Lance should he waver.

“Lura, stop. They’re humans and have a limit. I’ve lived with them for years and seen that even their strongest people needed a break. Their not Alteans or any other species that can handle your tough training regime. Keith and I may since I am Altean and Keith is half Galra but the rest are human. Shiro escaped from the arena where they probably fought for hours with no rest. Something your trying to do,” he started, a determined look set on his face and Allura glared at Lance.

“I am not doing that. They need to learn to be paladins,” she countered.

“That’s not gonna happen if they drop down from exhaustion of both physical and mental. Let them rest for like seven doboshes before you work them again,” he said glaring back at Allura and she leaned in.

“Four,” she said.

“Six,” he countered.

“Four and a half” she replied leaning closer.

“Five and a half,” he said going a bit lower.

“Fine, five and no longer,” she said.

“Five doboshes and twenty five ticks,” he said and she blew a breath out sharply.

“Fine,” she then walked out of the room and toward the observation\control room above the training deck.

“Uh,” Shiro said as Lance went back over to Keith and sat down.

“We have five minutes and about twenty-five seconds of rest,” he said and everyone nodded. They all started drinking the pouches as Coran went around before standing back.

“ _ Time's up you lumps. Time you faced the Gladiator _ ,” Allura called down and Coran took all the pouches and threw them away as he left the room. Everyone then got up, pulling their helmets on and pulling their bayards out as the lions all went to the sides.

“ _ In order to defeat the Gladiator, five paladins must fight as one, _ ” he then went quiet as they waited a hiss happened and they all looked up. A Gladiator then came down and got ready.

“Hmm? Whoa!” Hunk shouted as it landed behind him. He then raised his gun and started shooting at the Gladiator only for it to jump over and Keith pulled his shield up to block the shots. The Gladiator made it to Hunk and moved its staff to knock Hunk off his feet before tasing him. Hunk laid on the ground not moving and Katie ran forward with her bayard ready. She stopped his attacks for a bit before he tased her and hit her back so she rolled a bit and hit Hunk.

Lance raised his bayard and let off shots at the Gladiator which turned to him and moved his staff. He unfurled his wings and flew back as the Gladiator came at him and he changed his bayard to the bow and shot arrows that tased at it. He then went down and used the bow to whack the Gladiator which then moved its staff to block the attacks. Keith then ran forward and started attacking with Shiro behind him activating his arm before stopping. Shiro then grunted as a memory came to and Lance squinted his eyes wondering as Keith and Shiro get pushed backwards and it turns back to him the he realizes, the Gladiators look like the droids a little bit.

Lance then flew at the Gladiator with his gun again and whacked it against the Gladiators head before shooting at it and the Gladiator fell to the ground. Lance then landed and shook his head as he thought about how it would be slightly difficult to train in the future with the thought that these Gladiators look like the droids.

“That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child!” Allura commented and Lance leveled her with a look. “You’re not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!” she finished.

“Allura, like I said, they aren’t Alteans. Not to mention we haven’t known and fought alongside each other for as long as the old paladins. They knew each other at least and were strong. Humans are strong but not Altean strong. Certainly not after one training session,” Lance said glaring. “This is a process Lura. Things like this take time. You can’t force it, just like a bond with the lion’s, this also takes time,” he said and Coran nodded.

“Ahoy, young Paladins! I’ve whipped up a big batch of focusing food,” Coran said once everyone was seated at the long table with Lance sitting a seat from the head with Shiro beside the head. Keith was beside him looking down at the goo in front of him and Lance shook his head at it. “After this meal, you’ll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux!” Coran shouted.

“Smells great, Coran. Thanks,” Shiro said and Lance rolled his eyes at Shiro who smiled at Coran.

“Just wait till you taste it. Not the tastiest thing we could be having,” Lance said as Hunk raised a rounded fork that reminded him of a spork back on Earth. Coran raised a button and cuffs came from the chairs and hooked to their hands before connecting them to the other paladins hands. Shiro and Katie had one hand attached to the chair and the other to the person next to them. Lance sighed as Hunk glowered at Coran.

“Hold the phone,” Lance said calmly.

“I saw a lot of solid individual performances today, but you’re still struggling to work as a team. So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day,” Coran said happily and Hunk moved his hands around and Lance grunted as he was pulled along with Keith. He moved again causing Lance to be pulled and his hand went into Keith’s goo. They both looked at the goo before looking at each other.

“Sorry,” he said and Keith nodded.

“Coran, I want you to think about what you’re doing,” Hunk said looking at Coran seriously.

“This one’s a classic. You get to feel each other, like a pack of yalmors!” he said raising his hands and everyone groaned.

“Really Coran? Can’t you give us a break that doesn’t turn into a training exercise?” he asked and Coran shrugged. They then started eating but kept being pulled around as they ate while groaning and mumbling complaints about it.

“Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?” Allura asked and Lance glared at her since he too was grumbling about being pulled around while trying to do a simple task of eating.

“Can’t you just give us a break? Everyone’s been working really hard today,” Shiro said and Lance nodded agreement.

“Yeah! We’re not some prisoners for you to toy with like….like….” Keith tapered off as he couldn’t think of anything from his frustration.

“You can’t treat them or me like toy prisoners,” Lance said standing up.

“Yes! Thank you, Lance!” Keith said and Lance nodded back.

“You do not yell at the Princess!” Coran shouted.

“Oh, yes I can! I’m her brother!” Lance shouted. “We’ve been working hard!”

“Oh, the princess of what? We’re the only ones out here and she’s no princess of ours!” Katie shouted frustrated and tired at the day. She then grunts as the goo hits her. She then gives a small pout and Keith does too as they look outraged slightly at what happened. Both Lance and Coran look at Allura in surprise at what she did.

“Go loose, Katie!” Keith shouted as he grabbed a plate and threw its contents at Allura. Coran then went in front and blocked the goo. He then threw a ladle full and all but Katie got whacked in he goo. Lance shook his head and stared at Coran in surprise as to why he hit them when only two attacked them.

“Oh, it’s on now,” Hunk said before he went down and got the goo into his mouth. He then went upright and pushed Katie’s and Keith’s hands to his face spewing goo at Allura and Coran. The two then grabbed plates and started flinging goo at them. Keith moved so he was blocking Lance from being hit as Hunk did the same from Pidge. They all started launching food at each other laughing until all the goo was gone or on them. Once they finished they all started laughing until Allura grabbed their attention.

“Enough! Do you see what you’re doing?” she asked and they looked at each other as she looked up at them. “You’re finally working together as one!” she said smiling and Lance smiled at her both happy that they are and in amusement at how she was covered in goo.

“You guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Hunk asked leaning slightly to face Lance.

“Let’s go form Voltron!” Shiro said raising a fist up.

“Yeah!” everyone shouted.

“Actually, I was thinking dessert. But, yeah! Let’s do it!” Hunk shouted and Lance looked at them warily.

“Um guys. We’re still-” he then shouted slightly as they all fall and Lance tries staying up but ultimately gets pulled down. “Chained.” he finished with a groan and the lions all make laughing sounds at them.

“Oh, right,” Hunk replied. Coran then unchains them and they each grab their lions and head to the bays and get into their lions.

_ “Everyone ready to do this? _ ” Shiro asks as they all grab their controls for the lions.

“ _ Roger that! _ ” Katie shouts.

“It’s on!” Lance said cheerfully and waited for the other’s to reply.

“ _ Yes, sir! _ ” Keith replied.

“ _ I was born ready! _ ” Hunk yells and they soon heard Black roar in her hangar.

“ _ Then let’s go! _ ” he shouts and the lions all move out of the castle to form Voltron. Once together, Lance feels the other lions stronger and they all work to land on the ground. On his earrings he can hear Allura talking.

“ _ I told you I could get them to do it. They just needed a common enemy, _ ” she said and Lance sighed.

“That’s only one thing needed to form Voltron, Lura!” Lance called and Allura looks at Blue and shakes her head once she remembered that Lance was wearing the communication earrings.

“ _ Well it worked _ ,” she countered.

“It did. Just you wait though. I’m coming for ya once we separate,” Lance said and Allura laughed as she walked back into the castle with Coran. Soon Voltron separated and they went into the Castle with the lions all walking ahead talking. They then went into the paladin lounge and sat down. “Man, Ilek was right! It feels so cool!” he said to the others. I’m so charged up, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep tonight,” he said leaning back against the couch and Keith’s side.

“Not me. When my head hits the pillow, I’m going to be lights out,” Keith replied moving the hand opposite to Lance horizontally.

“I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we’re brothers, man,” Hunk said going down and pulling Keith and Lance into a hug. Lance felt his back pop in the hug and he frowned slightly, his wings that were up in surprise went down as Hunk continued, his own wings perked up. “You know? Like, we’re totally connected. Mo secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers, and sister, all the way,” he said looking over at Katie and Shiro. Shiro had a hand on her shoulder as she patted the yellow mouse. “I love you guys.”

“G-forces mess with your head a little bit?” Keith asked with a small smile.

“He’s like that, Keith. Don’t be surprised,” Lance said and Keith nodded before climbing from the couch and up to the floor and Lance followed. Shiro walked up the steps and turned back to Katie.

“Going to bed, Katie?” he asked.

“In a minute,” she replied and Shiro nodded.

“Good work today. We’re really coming together. And I know your brother and father will be proud,” Shiro said and Katie nodded. Lance walked down the hall with Blue at his side and felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned slightly and saw that it was Keith who put his hand there.

“Yes?” Lance asked turning to look at Keith with an eyebrow raised in question.

“I wanted to ask about a comment you made when we rescued Shiro. You said ‘as much good as it did me’. What did that mean? And why were you bitter then?” he asked and Lance sighed.

“Let’s go talk in my room. There we can talk about everything,” Lance replied and they walked down the hall in silence. Red and Blue were walking ahead of them and soon the made it to his room and they entered the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh they’re gonna have a talk next chap! Whoa! And finished another episode! Whoa! Good day my readers!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, NEXT CHAP!!! Not to mention they actually talk to each other in this chap about their feelings! So, I just wanted to say sorry for the late update. My mom had to use the laptop I write on for taxes ‘cause hers doesn’t allow the program she uses onto it. So ya, that’s why I couldn’t update last weekend. But hopefully with next week being my spring break I’ll update a bit more. Key word: bit. Ok, here we go, enjoy!
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

 

Lance sat down heavily onto the bed and let his head fall forward. Keith sat down beside him and waited as Lance gathered his thoughts for the explanation Keith deserved. A sigh escaped from Lance as he rubbed the back of his neck and he turned his head to look at Keith and a small smile graced his lips. “So, what would you like to know?” he asked.

“Everything I guess,” Keith replied.

“Well, when I first started all over on Earth I had an urge to space. Like something was pulling me to go out there, like space was calling me. I worked hard to get a scholarship to the Garrison since my adopted family couldn't afford it. When I got in they were happy for me and treated me to a celebration like they had actually made me like their own kids. I myself felt closer to my goal. I felt accomplished for getting into this high in school and it just felt right to fly. I didn't know how but I knew how to fly the ship simulator even though I've never been in that ship before or had any memory,” he explained and looked over at Keith.

“And then when it was time for placement I was put in Cargo and that made the pull trying to get me into space angry. I made it to the top of the class while you were in fighter. You didn't even look like you were trying hard to succeed. Then when Kerberos failed and you got kicked out because of ‘disciplinary problems’ and I was put into fighter class,” Lance said and he looked away on thought, a sad look going over his face. “Well, at first I was excited since I was closer to fulfilling this pull to be in outer space and I was with my best friend. But then, it just went downhill,” he let off a sigh and Keith placed his hand over Lance’s clasped ones.

“All the teachers compared me to you and kept reminding me that I was only there because you dropped out. Even some of the students compared me to you and complained. Everywhere I went they compared. It started affecting my piloting for a little before I was able to get control and try again. But they made it difficult, made the simulator do things that didn’t happen for other groups. I just got so sick of being compared to someone that no longer goes there, of only being told I wasn’t good enough. So of course that’s why I was bitter towards you. I always got compared and then you also said then when we found Blue that I was the worst pilot but I also knew even though it hurt that you didn't mean it. That you were just nervous being inside an alien robot. It still hurt though since I was finally where I felt like I was meant to be. The force pulling me to do things was satisfied that I was finally there,” he said and sighed again while falling back onto the bed.

Keith then reached out and placed his hand on Lance’s slightly bent knee. “But the crazy thing is, even though I wanted to hate you or even dislike you, but I couldn't. It wasn't your doing that everyone compared the two of us. But that didn't stop the bitter feelings toward you,” Keith laid down beside Lance and they both turned so that they faced each other. “Though I don't hate you, I never could. I felt a pull toward you, like we were supposed to be together and I could believe it sense we would push each other, both back at the Garrison and now here,” he continued and Keith have a small nod. “I care about you more then a friend even,” he finished and Keith smiled.

“I think I know what your feeling,” Keith said and they both reached out to each other and grabbed the other's hand. “I care about you deeply too,” he muttered. “And I think we should get to know each other more if we're going to be together since our Lion’s are mate to each other,” he finished and Lance nodded agreement.

“Yeah. We can do that tomorrow, it's late right now,” Lance said ending with a yawn and Keith nodded agreement.

“Ya,” he muttered, scooting closer to Lance, putting his other arm underneath Lance’s head while his other held onto Lance’s hands clasped in his own between their bodies.

**XXX**

“Great job training today, guys. We’re really getting the hang of Voltron,” Shiro said as they walked into the dining area. The four of them all sat down at the table and pulled their helmets off as Coran came in.

“Hello, guys! How was the Voltron workout?” he asked walking up with a platter.

“We’re getting there,” Shiro remarked. “Are you and Allura almost done fixing the Castle so we can leave this planet?” he asked. “I feel like we’re sitting ducks here on Arus.”

“Just about. In the meantime, to get your minds off those duck seats you’re worried about,” Coran started as he set the platter he carried down onto the table. “I made you an authentic ancient paladin lunch!” he lifted the lid off and underneath was a meal that Lance saw his father and friends eat a good amount of times before and heard the others groan at the smell. For Lance it reminded him of old vegetables. Shiro leaned forward and squinted at it as Keith turned away from it slightly and Hunk looked at Coran in confusion.

“Coran, you just got me hooked on that goo and now you’re switching it up?” Hunk asked.

“This is packed with nutrients,” Coran defended as Shiro went away from the meal. Hunk then leaned forward himself and took a deeper breath of it.

“Oh it smells disgusting!” he complained and Lance raised an eyebrow at him.

“Just now smelling it?” Lance asked.

“I know! That’s how you know it’s healthy!” Coran said leaning down and taking a big whiff before straightening again.

“Coran, we’re on a planet with fresh herbs, spices, and whatever this is,” Hunk said holding up a plant from outside. “A tuber? If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head back to the kitchen and spice things up,” Hunk then stood up and left the room through the way Coran came from. Lance and Keith then sat down at the table and Coran pushed it toward Lance.

“Where’s Katie?” Shiro asked.

“She’s probably checking on those prisoners we rescued from Zarkon,” Coran said eating a piece while straightening to look at Shiro. “They’ll be waking soon in the infirmary,” Shiro nodded and stood up. “Open the hatch. Food lion coming in!” Coran said and Shiro looked curiously as Coran pushed a spoon with some of the food on it toward Lance who looked on wide eyed. Coran made plane noises and Lance then shrugged opening his mouth with a skeptical look. Both Keith and Shiro watched as Lance chewed the food with a slightly grossed out face. A face one makes when their favorite meal is slightly enough so that the tastes off, but not off enough for you to completely spit it out.

Lance swallowed it and smiled at Coran who got another spoonful of it and started doing it again. Only for Lance to halt his movement and glanced at Shiro. “I’m going to go with Shiro to check on Katie and the ex-prisoners,” he then stood up and hurried over to Shiro. “Come on!” he then grabbed Shiro’s arm and pulled him from the room before Coran could move. As they walked down the halls Lance let off a sigh at leaving before Coran could get him to eat more of the stuff.

“Was it that bad?” Shiro asked and Lance shrugged.

“It wasn’t terrible but I wouldn’t eat it if I didn’t have to. And I have a feeling you guys won’t stand it since Human tastebuds are different from what I could tell,” Lance said and Shiro nodded agreement. Soon they entered the healing chamber and inside was Katie, her leg bouncing in impatience. Beside her was Green who looked between her and the pods sensing her anxiousness. They walked toward her and she looked up.

“Looks like your just as anxious,” Shiro said.

“These aliens we saved know something about my family. They have to!” she said and the two walked over and stopped once they were in front of her. Lance then sat down beside her and wrapped both a wing and arm around her.

“I hope so too,” he replied.

“They recognized you, didn’t they?” She asked and Shiro nodded. “They called you ‘Champion’. What does that mean?” she asked and Shiro shrugged.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember much about my time there,” Shiro admitted. “But the way these guys looked at me when we freed them…..I don’t know if I want to find out,” he finished and Lance looked between them.

“Shiro,” Lance started and the two looked at him. “Why don’t you use the device that helped me get my memories back?” he asked and Shiro looked away.

“I’m…...not certain I want to know what I did in my time there,” he said slowly and Lance nodded.

“I guess I wouldn’t either. But wouldn’t you rather know and have possible information about everything, or would you like to get caught up in a flashback or memory in bad times? That happened to me when we were getting Yellow. I would have been killed if Hunk hadn’t come up in time. Granted I already had my past brought back, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen still for you or me,” Lance reasoned and Shiro nodded.

“You’re right, Lance. I should do it so I don’t put anyone at risk,” he agreed.

“That includes your own safety,” Lance said and Katie nodded agreement. “Want to do it now?” he asked.

“How long until the ex-prisoners come out?” Shiro asked and Lance went to the center and placed his hands on the podium which brought the holograms up. He then started typing on it with quick taps and soon he smiled.

“We have another hour until they get released from the pods. We’ll get back before then,” Lance said and both Shiro and Katie nodded agreement. “Luckily Coran moved the equipment so that it’s only one room away from here,” he said standing up and Katie followed suite. They then made their way to the room and Black showed up along with Blue. “Hey, Black, Blue,” Lance said and Blue climbed up Lance’s body to go to her perch on his shoulders. “You wanna help Shiro get his time while with the Galra back?” he asked and he felt Black purr in his mind in agreement. “Then you could help him stay calm and filter the memories. If you feel one is too horrific for Shiro right now then you could fuzz it,” he said and black nodded walking beside Shiro.

“I thought the lion’s could only help when they were bonded when it happened,” Katie said and lance smiled at her. They entered the room and Shiro laid down and allowed lance to place the machine on his head.

“Ready?” he asked and Shiro nodded. Black was laying beside Shiro with her head on Shiro’s chest. Lance then flipped the switch for it and the machine hummed to life and glowed blue. “And to answer you, Katie, yes. Normally the lion’s can only help bring memories back if they are bonded when it happened. But what Black is doing isn’t helping in getting the memories back, that’s the machine’s job,” he started and Katie nodded understanding. “Black here is going through the memories before they become clear to Shiro to make sure he won’t get stressed by calming him or fuzzing some to be remembered later,” he finished and Katie nodded.

“I think I got it now,” she said and he nodded.

“Not so hard,” Lance said and Katie nodded.

“Ya, not so hard,” she agreed and they then both waited for the machine to finish it’s job. During the slow process, Shiro moved his head, eyes clenched tightly shut and his brows were furrowed. Black let off soothing rumbles that helped him calm some but not all the way. After about ten minutes the machine was done and Black jumped from the bed and onto the floor.  _ Did you have to fuzz any memories? _ Lance asked Black and Black nodded.

**_Yes, I felt that the memory of him losing his arm would be too much. He was awake for it and the witch did stuff to make it worse_ ** , Black said and Lance sucked in a breath at that.

_ She’ll pay for what she’s done _ , Lance pressed and Black nodded agreement.

**_When you do, please tell us. I’m sure the other cubs would love to help you_ ** , Black growled and Lance nodded agreement. He then realized that bother Shiro and Katie were staring at him.

“What?” he asked and the two looked between him and Black. “Oh, I was talking with Black, royals who are paladins are able to talk to all the lions,” he explained and they nodded understanding to him.

“Should we head back to the prisoners then?” Katie asked and Lance nodded.

“Wait,” Lance turned to Shiro who looked at him curiously. “Do you remember why they called you Champion?” he asked and Shiro closed his eyes in thought.

“Ya,” Shiro replied and took a deep breath. “Matt, me and some other prisoners were being led to the Arena. A place of kill or be killed,” he started and Lance flinched at it and they looked at him. “What is it?” Shiro asked and Lance sighed.

“Before, that used to be a place where the Galra would do their version of sports and then they would also be used for the occasional traitor once they were proved guilty,” he explained looking at the floor. “It was…….a great thing, the Arena long ago. To be accepted into the arena for a competition, it was an honor,” a sigh escaped him again and Blue rubbed her head against his neck and her tail rubbed his wings. He sighed again but this time it was a more relaxed one. “But please, continue,” he said as they continued their walk down the hall.

“Well, they were making Matt go and he talked about you Katie,” Shiro continued and looked at the girl as she pushed up the glasses that they found out were Matt’s spare ones. “He was so scared and I knew I had to give him a chance at getting back to you. So, I rushed forward and grabbed the jagged sword the droid was holding and attacked Matt hitting his leg and making it so he would be put somewhere else. I took the roll by saying it was my fight, that I wanted blood. They pulled me off and dragged me to the Arena center while another took Matt somewhere else. Before they did, I told him to take care of his father and you when you three got reunited,” he finished and they both nodded.

“So that’s were this started, a ‘bloodlust’,” Lance said and Shiro nodded. “Then I’m guessing you may have taken down the previous champion,” he continued and  Shiro nodded.

“Ya, he was a ruthless thing, no one had ever beaten him. All the prisoners were basically walking to their deaths. But I had to fight for them to survive, and I did. I became the new champion,” he said and they both nodded. “I’m a monster,” he whispered and  they all stopped in the hall right outside the healing chambers door. Lance looked sadly at Shiro as he looked at his right arm with disdain. He stepped forward and wrapped Shiro up in a hug with both his arms and wings.

Katie joined up and he felt Blue jump onto Shiro’s shoulders and rubbed his neck all the while purring. Black then could be felt rubbing against Shiro’s legs and purring herself, Lance could feel the sorrow coming off her at seeing her paladin like this, thinking he was a monster. “You’re  _ not a monster _ ,” Lance said with emotion and he could tell everyone trying to comfort Shiro nodding agreement. “You  _ saved those prisoners and Matt’s lives _ . If that doesn’t make you a hero then I don’t know what will in your book. But that sure as heck in my book makes you a hero and not a monster. You  _ did what you had to _ . You  _ wanted to make sure no one else was killed _ . That’s amazing,” he finished and Katie nodded agreement.

“You saved my brother’s life!  _ Thank you! _ I’m  _ sure _ Matt would be hugging and thanking you too,” she shouted but was muffled by Shiro’s vest. They soon felt Shiro wrap his arms around them and felt a small shake as tears came out from the amazing words they told him. He soon leaned back out of the small group hug and wiped away the remaining tears under his eyes and smiled at them.

“Thank you,” he said and they nodded.

“If you ever need to talk, you can come talk to me. Even leaders need to talk and cry sometimes. Whenever it becomes to much for you to burden, you know where to find me,” Lance said and Shiro nodded.

“Thanks,” he whispered and they all nodded and smiled. Blue jumped from Shiro’s shoulders to Lance’s and Lance stumbled slightly, not expecting the weight. He righted himself and laughed while Katie and Shiro both looked slightly freaked.

“I’m good. Just didn’t expect it but I’m good. Now let’s go see those prisoners,” Lance said before he walked into the chamber. The others followed behind looking at Blue in curiosity and worry at what she might do next. They leaned against the wall as they wait the last few minute of the healing process and soon they heard a hiss. They look up and see that the alien that call Shiro Champion stumbled out. “We got you,” Lance said helping the alien down onto the floor before going to the side and opening something. He then grabbed a blanket and went over to the alien and placed it over their shoulders.

Soon the rest were out and the three helped them to the ground giving them blankets to warm up. They then started giving them drinks while Katie went to the first ex prisoner. “So, how long were you held captive by Zarkon?” she asked as the alien took the drink.

“Some for years. Decades, maybe,” he replied. “It’s hard to tell. Time becomes a blur.”

“Then you must have been there when my father, brother and friend arrived there. Sam and Matt Holt along with Takashi Shirogane,” she said and the alien looked up after taking a sip of the drink.

“I never knew their names. But I certainly remember the two other Earthlings that arrived with Champion,” he said looking over at Shiro.

“We understand what happened after we got Shiro’s memory back but we don’t know where they took the others after Shiro hurt Matt to keep him from the Arena,” Lance started as he sat down beside the alien. “We were wondering if you perhaps knew where they took Sam and Matt,” he finished and the alien nodded understanding to the question.

“I know not where they were taken. The Sam you speak of may have been useful for the empire but it’s hard to say,” he said and Shiro looked up.

“Wait. That ship we were held captive on crash-landed on this planet. They’ll have logs of prisoners, some information,” Shiro said turning and Lance nodded agreement.

“They would. If they haven’t changed the design of their ships then I know where to find the logs,” Lance said standing up.

“But would you be able to get in?” Shiro asked.

“I don’t know. All three of us should go. I’ll let Allura know where we’re going,” he said walking out to go to where he assumed his sister would be. He knew they would head outside for their lions to shift bigger as he went through the halls. He soon made it into the dining hall and saw that his sister was by Coran as Hunk and Keith ate what Hunk seemed to put together. “Allura,” he called and everyone looked at him. “Shiro, Katie and I are going to the crashed ship to see if it has any info on the whereabouts of her father and brother,” he said and she nodded.

“Of course, good luck and be careful.

“Don’t worry, I will. Don’t take any unnecessary risks ok? We don’t know for sure if Sendak survived. Until we know he’s dead, stay inside,” he said and Allura sighed but nodded.

“I will. If anything happens I’ll inform you. But don’t count on me waiting for you,” she replied and a laugh fell from his lips.

“As long as you change your appearance fine. I’m going now. Bye,” he then ran from the room as everyone shouted their own goodbye to him. He made it outside and saw that the two were waiting for him impatiently. “Sorry,” he called up as Blue jumped from her perch and started shifting back to normal size. He heard something that sounded like a yell and looked around in confusion. When he turned to a wall with a bush he saw an alien holding a blade. “Hello, who are you?” he asked and the alien looked at him. “I promise no one's going to hurt you.”

“I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors. Our village is over Gazrel Hill,” he said and Katie and Shiro come out to see what’s going on. “I come seeking answers as to why the Lion Goddess is angered with her followers,” he said holding his arms to the side.

“Lion Goddess?” Lance asked.

“Followers?” Katie asked herself.

“The one the ancestors spoke of,” Klaizap said pointing over to a wall with a carving in it of a lion in a robe.

“What made you think she’s angered?” Shiro asked this time and Klaizap looked between them.

“Destruction is everywhere. In the past few suns, fire has rained from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky,” he explained moving his arms about and Lance had a small smile on his lips.

“I think what you’re talking about is Voltron,” he said and Klaizap looked up. “You haven’t angered the Lion Goddess. Voltron has been reformed and was needing practice. That’s all,” he said and Klaizap looked worried still,

“How can you be certain?” he asked Lance smiled as he kneeled down.

“I am Lance of Altea and this is my family’s castle. We were running tests to get the systems back up and had Voltron come out to try coming together again. We didn’t mean to make it seem the Lion Goddess was angered,” he said. Klaizap gasped then and went to his knees holding his dagger out.

“Lion God!” he said.

“Please, I am no God, just a normal person,” he said and gently grabbed Klaizap’s hands. “Stand up, I do not need praise from you for making your village worry,” he said and Klaizap stood up. “Allow me to get my sister down here so that she can go to your village to apologize. I would go but my friends and I have a recon mission,” he said and the small Arusian nodded. “Allura,” he called into his earrings.

“ _ What is it, Lance? _ ” she asked.

“An Arusian warrior is here. I need you to come down and go to the village to apologize for scaring them while I go with Shiro and Katie to get the info,” he explained.

“ _ Alright, I and everyone else will be down soon and with supplies for the Arusians _ ,” she said.

“Ok, I’ll tell him that,” he said and looked down at the Arusian. “Klaizap, my sister Allura will be down soon with the other warriors to greet you and will have some supplies for your Village. This is goodbye for now since I still have a mission,” he explained and Klaizap nodded. “Be sure to introduce yourself to her,” he said before going to his lion and the others followed suit. He stopped at Blue’s mouth and turned to wave before going in. the lions then went off toward the crash and land a good distance from it.

They all get out and make their way to it and start climbing. “Ok, so this would be were the prison section would be starting,” Lance said going to a hole in the ceiling and looking down. “There’s the prison computer which will hold all prisoner names, numbers and transfers,” he continued and started down. He flapped down to the computer and landed. The other's land beside him and he placed his hand on the computer and it remained lifeless. “Looks like it’ll need power and will you be able to get stuff off it, Katie?” he asked and she nodded.

“Shiro, think you could see if you’re Galra arm will be enough to turn the computer on?” Katie asked and Shiro shrugged.

“We’ll find out,” he said and they both nodded as he activated his arm and stepped forward. He then placed his hand on the computer and it started buzzing and then turned on. The computer flashed on in red on the console and the bigger screen came on tilted over from the crash.

“Whoa,” both Lance and Katie said as Shiro’s eyes just widened. “Ok so to narrow the search look over the past year of prisoners coming into the ship for the first time,” Lance said and Katie nodded as she started the search through with Lance reading it until he found it. “Stop,” he said and she did and he looked through it. “Download these three files,” he pointed to three files on the screens that he understood sounded important for prisoners.

Katie nodded and started the download for those files. It got halfway through when Shiro and Lance heard something. They both looked up as Katie continued the download confident that they’d tell her if it was something important. Coming down through the atmosphere was what looked to be a giant ship and Lance swallowed.  _ Blue, something's coming through the atmosphere. I need  you to look at it and see if you can tell what it is, _ he thought and Blue purred understanding.  _ My Pilot, it’s of Galra make and is big. I assume it might be a creation of Haggar’s _ , Blue responded and Lance let off a soft ‘Quiznak’ and looked back up. The ship was closer and he turned to Katie and saw that she was close to finishing but knew they wouldn’t finish in time. “We need to get out of here,” he said and Shiro nodded agreement lifting his hand.

“No, I’m not done yet,” she said pulling Shiro’s hand back down and Lance looked between the ship and computer.

“You’re not gonna finish in time Katie, sorry,” he said before grabbing Katie and flying through the hole with Shiro behind him.

“Team, come in!” Shir called. “We need backup!” he shouted as they landed a good distance away. “Hello?”

“ _ Shiro? _ ” they all heard Allura ask.

“Where is everyone?” he asked as they landed on the ground and continued running toward the lions and a thunderous roll sounded out as the ground shook causing them to stumble.

“No! Lance! Shiro!” she shouted and they all looked up as they saw the ship getting closer to them.

“Run!” Shiro shouted and they all started running before using their wings to get farther away. The ship crashed into the ground and an explosion started causing rocks to come flying toward them as they flew away. Rumbling was heard and the lions moved to cover them right as a rock came flying toward Katie and Lance. Shiro covered the two of them with his wings as the big chunk of rock came at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so again I’M SORRY ABOUT THE DELAYED UPDATE!! Just had a lot goin on and well ya. Updates didn’t happen. I hope this doesn’t happen again but I know I can’t promise that. So, I guess I hope you enjoyed this chap. Hopefully next chap will be soon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the lateness. LOVE YA! I SWEAR I DO!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so next chap! Sorry again about the delay. And about not getting anything out really. But to be fair, I did say maybe. Ok, back to the story. Hope you enjoy! (Also, sorry if the battle isn’t great, I’m not good at writing battle scenes)
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

 Lance looked around and noticed that the lions were around them protecting them from the flying debris. The lions backed up and he felt Shiro move back allowing him to do the same. They then looked at the three, Lance smiled thanks while the other two looked confused. “Our lions saved us,” Shiro said in awe.

“I didn’t know they could do that,” Katie said and Lance smiled at them.

“Well, if their paladins are in trouble, the lions will go and protect them if they have a good bond or if their quintessence matches well,” Lance explained and the two nodded.

“Umm….guys!” Katie pointed behind them and they turned to look at the giant container behind them with confusion. They then heard creaking and groaning as it opened up and showed a giant creation inside. An antenna of sorts opened on top and the creations eyes popped on with one eye glowing gold and the other purple.

“Shiro, does this remind you of anything back on the Galra ship?” Lance asked and Shiro’s eyes widened in surprise.

“This is the alien that was the champion before I was taken prisoner,” Shiro said and they nodded. They continued staring at the creation and noticed that it was looking at them and Lance took a step back. “Get in your lions!” Shiro shouted when they saw it twitching. They then flew into their lion's jaws and into the cockpits. As they sat down in their seats the robot raised an arm that wasn’t an arm. It was an energizing pole like thing that started spinning with a whir and crackle of energy. A ball of energy formed and the beast moved his arm back prepared to throw it and pushed forward. They all then had the lion's jump out of the way and moved its arm and the ball moved with it.

It swung the ball and it curved behind itself then went toward Katie and she blasted it with her lion’s laser. It continued on unaffected by it and then hit Katie. “Katie! Are you alright!?” Lance shouted and they heard her grunt.

“Ya, just sore,” she replied as Shiro went over to the beast and bit down on its shoulder to stop it from doing anything else.

“ _Come on, we need to give them cover fire so they can get out of there,_ ” Keith’s voice came over the comms

“ _On it! Battle-lion head butt!_ ” Hunk yelled out and they watched as Hunk rammed into the thing that Shiro was clamped on. Keith then fired at the beast and it went backwards.

“ _You guys ok down there?_ ” Keith asked.

“We’re still moving aren’t we?” Lance asked Hunk snorted. The four then flew up to Keith as he looked down at the beast as it laid on the ground.

“ _Are the Galra behind this?_ ” Hunk asked as the beast got back up.

“They are,” Lance said. “Those are Galra markings and what other alien race\planet loves everything purple?” Lance asked and they all shrugged.

“ _Galra are the only ones that we know off that loves purple,_ ” Katie said and Lance nodded.

“Ya and I know Haggar loves doing these types of things. She’s horrible,” Lance said and he knew everyone were nodding agreement.

“ _You can say that again,_ ” Shiro said.

“Do you remember how you stopped it the first time?” Lance asked and there was a noise of confusion.

“ _I thought Shiro didn’t remember his time in Galra hands?_ ” Keith commented questioned.

“ _While waiting for the prisoners to finish healing Lance took us to the machine and got Shiro’s memories back,_ ” Katie explained and there were ‘oh’s’ of understatement.

“Well?” Lance asked as the beast got up and looked at them.

“ _We’re going to need to be Voltron first,_ ” he said and everyone nodded. “ _Form Voltron!_ ” he shouted and the lion’s all roared before going up and coming together. The robeast stood up and looked at them with a somehow determined look and in the pole another ball formed. Shiro had them dodge the ball quickly before getting them in a ready position. “ _We’re going to need a shield to protect ourselves from the orb_ ,” Shiro called out and there were noises of understanding.

“ _On it!_ ” Katie called and soon Green had a shield on her back formed from the wings on Black’s back.

“ _Orb!_ ” Hunk shouted warning and Shiro had Voltron go to the side and the orb went by.

“ _Thanks, Hunk,_ ” Shiro called. “ _I had a weapon then. Lance, does Voltron have a weapon?_ ” Shiro asked and Lance bit his lip.

“Yes and no. The lions when as Voltron usually use the jaw lasers but when it’s needed the Lion’s will show the person that has a weapon fit for the situation what to do,” Lance explained. “That’s what I’ve been told by Ilek and father.”

“ _That’s good_ ,” Shiro said.

“ _Huh?_ ” Keith sounded out. “ _I think Red’s trying to tell me something_ ,” he called out and Lance smiled.

“Do whatever she’s showing you!” he yelled.

“ _Alright,_ ” Keith said and they heard something being hit against another thing. Lance felt a surge of power and looked up and saw in a glimpse that keith formed a sword for Voltron to use. The orb made a reappearance and Shiro had Katie raised Green up so that the shield blocked the orb. She then tilted the shield so the orb then went above them before going back and stayed on the pole.

“ _Now!_ ” Shiro yelled and both Hunk and Lance pushed the sticks forward so that both Yellow and Blue’s thrusters went off at the same time and Voltron went forward toward the robeast. The robeast then went forward too and they met in the middle. Shiro swung the sword and it slashed through the beast with little resistance and continued forward. They all heard the beast fall down to its knees and then heard the sizzle of electricity. The beast then exploded behind them and the sword disappeared as Keith removed his bayard from the holder with a smile.

“ _Thanks, Red_ ,” he said and soon they disassembled from Voltron and landed outside the Castle with a thud. They all then exited their lions and went to the door where Allura was standing ready with the village leader. There was a rumbling coming from behind them and they all knew the lions were shrinking. Lance felt the familiar pull as Blue started climbing up his body to lay on his shoulders. A laugh left his mouth as he pulled his helmet off and looked at Blue with a smile.

“One of these days you’re gonna actually pull me down,” he said rubbing her head.

“I hope not,” Keith said coming up behind with Red at his side. “That seems like it would hurt more since there would be a robot lion on you,” he continued and Lance nodded agreement.

“Ya,” he said and they all walked up to Allura and the leader. Beside them was Klaizap and a couple other Arusians “Hello Allura. How’d the meeting go before, y’know, the attack?” he asked and she smiled.

“They did a dance of apology trying to make amends of what happened,” she replied and Lance snorted slightly. “Let us continued our talks after we get the ex-prisoners on a pod and back to their families,” she said and everyone nodded agreement. They all walked forward and Klaizap stayed put until Lance was beside him then he started walking beside them.

“Hey, Klaizap,” Lance greeted. “I hope you treated my sister nicely,” he said and Klaizap nodded.

“I would never be rude to Lion Goddess or Lion God,” he said and a sigh left Lance’s lips as he gently shook his head.

“Klaizap, we aren’t Gods or Goddesses. We’re normal people,” he tried and Klaizap looked at him confused.

“You have one of the guardian lion’s on your shoulder, do you not?”

“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean anything considering the others also have a lion with them,” he gestured to the side where Keith had Red at his side, Katie had Green getting a ride on her head, Hunk had Yellow in his arms and Shiro was walking with Black in front of him occasionally looking back and making small noises and he would reply. “We aren’t special. We just, help the Goddess communicate with you,” he tried. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to get the Arusians to listen so tried to at least move their position to one less important.

“You then speak with the lion Goddess?” Klaizap asked and Lance nodded while Keith looked at him confused.

“Exactly,” Lance replied and Klaizap nodded understanding.

“Of course,” he said and then they walked in silence while Allura talked with the village leader.

“Arusian friends,” Allura started and they all looked at her, “I would appreciate it if you would stay out here while we have the ex-prisoners leave,” she finished and the Arusian leader nodded. They then went into the pods bay and there Coran was as he made sure they had supplied necessary for their trip. Lance stepped forward and shook the alien's hand with a smile.

“Good luck out there,” he said and Blue purred her agreement. “I hope you all see our families again.”

“Thank you all for everything,” the alien replied with a small bow before straightening again. “We never dreamed we’d see our families again. But you gave us hope. You gave the universe hope,” he replied and they all nodded agreement. The alien then went into the pod and they waved as the door closed and it left the castle. Katie looked at the floor, her wings drooped to the ground when almost everyone was out of the room. Lance walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You ok?” he asked and she looked up at him.

“I just wish they were on that ship, that we’d gotten them out of Galra hands,” she replied and his hand tightened on her shoulder.

“It’ll be fine. I’m sure your brother and father are fine. I have a feeling they’re survivors like you,” Lance said and Katie looked up at him with a watery smile.

“They’d be proud of you,” came a voice and they turned to see Shiro walking up to them. “We will get them back, Katie. That’s a promise,” he said and Katie then wrapped her arms around both Lance and Shiro.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“No problem, short stuff,” Lance replied fondly and Katie let a bubbly laugh out at the nickname.

“That’s something Matt called me when we were younger,” she said, her voice muffled since her face was being pushed into their shirts.

“Well, consider me your second older brother then. I’m sure I’d get along swell with him,” he said and Katie laughed again as she nodded her head.

“That’d be nice,” she said and he patted her upper back before rubbing her wings. She then stepped back and smiled at them.

“As your new older brother, I say we get some food now!” he said wrapping an arm around her shoulders before leading her out the room with Shiro behind them shaking his head. Blue and Green rumbled to each other and even reached out to play with each other and soon they entered the kitchen with Hunk there making something. “Hey Hunk!” Lance greeted as they went over to the counters and went up onto them and Hunk turned to them.

“Hey guys,” Hunk greeted before turning to a fridge that had some new stuff in it thanks to the Arusians.

“Whatcha making? And where’s Keith?” Lance asked as Blue and Green jumped from their perches onto the counters and started rolling around.

“I believe he went to get into something comfier than this armor,” he said and Lance nodded agreement.

“Wouldn’t blame him. These armors aren’t the most comfortable after training or fighting,” Lance agreed and they all nodded. “I think I’ll go change to so that the armor can dry and the undersuit can get cleaned,” he said and everyone nodded agreement.

“How do Altean’s even wash clothing?” Katie asked and he smiled.

“Well, I’ll show you! Just get changed and bring the undersuit with you to the end of the hall for the paladin’s quarters. I’ll meet you there. And if you see Keith, tell him to follow you once your changed” he said and she nodded. They then both left and both Shiro and Hunk looked curious so they too went to change. Soon everyone arrived at the halls end right as Lance appeared, all the lions were in the kitchen waiting for their return while Allura and Coran were talking to the Arusian leader.

“Wow, ok then. Follow me down to the armory,” Lance said and he started walking down the halls. “If your able to remember how to get to it then that would be good. Since then you could come down on your own,” Lance said and they nodded agreement, making sure to not what halls they turned down. Soon they make it down to where they first got the armor and Lance led them past the door down to another one that was about six feet away. He then entered the room and the others followed. Inside was a 12 by 12 room with three different stations that had five of each so that each Paladin had a station. He went to the station that was directly across from the the door. The other two stations were on the other two walls.

“Ok, just so you know, the stations on the left are for your armor pieces should they need cleaning or repairs,” he pointed to the station which had many hooks to hold the pieces and other things too. “This middle one is for the undersuits for the same reasons,” he continued pointing to the middle ones before pointing to the last stations. “And those are for the bayards. They have a couple cleaning solutions so that you can get any stain or whatever off and you can buff out any dent or whatever from the bayard in either its inactive or active form,” he finished and everyone nodded.

“So what next?” Hunk asked and Lance smiled at them.

“It’s very simple,” he started by lifting his undersuit up. “Make sure everything is inside-out,” he then started pulling the suit so that the almost invisible seams are out and everyone did the same. Once they had theirs like his own he continued. “You then place it on the hooks securely, wouldn’t want it to come off while it was being cleaned would ya? And make sure to go to the station with your color,” he asked as he did it and the others went to the other stations to do as he said. “To make sure it’s secure, give it a tug. If you feel it move slightly from the hook then it’s not secure,” he said and everyone did it.

“Got it,” Katie said and soon everyone else also said their agreement and he smiled.

“Now we just push the pale-green button. It’ll then have a hologram pop up asking how deep of cleaning we want. Don’t move it from where it is. It’s always on the lightest setting which is good for the suits since they only have sweat and maybe some dirt on it. I’ll tell you what the other buttons are for later. Now we press the red-pink one and it’ll start,” he then pushed the button and the suite went down into the machine and he heard as the others did too.

“Now what?” Keith asked this time as he looked at the machine curiously.

“Now we can relax as Allura talks. Once the machine is done, it’ll send the undersuit back to your rooms into the spot where the armor is stored,” he said with a smile and they left the room. They went into the kitchen and lounge and Hunk started making everyone a snack as they waited. After a while Allura and Coran entered with a smile. “Guess everything went well?” he asked and Allura nodded agreement.

“We are having a celebration in the castle tonight and the Arusians will be performing something. The leader said it would be a surprise for us,” she explained and Lance nodded. “Coran, can you make the treats that they will enjoy?” she asked the advisor and Coran nodded.

“Coran, why don’t you have Hunk help you? That way you get more done faster,” he suggested and Coran nodded and Hunk looked interested in it. The two then went into the kitchen as Hunk handed the platter of snacks to then. Lance folded his wings underneath him as he leaned back on the couch with Keith on one side and Katie on the other. Shiro sat a few feet away after grabbing a treat and the others followed suit.

Katie then leaned against Lance as she nibbled on her treat and Keith leaned against him too, but only slightly. Allura soon joined them on the couch sitting by Shiro after grabbing a treat and soon the two were talking in hushed tones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so the party happens next chap and you know what that means. Hehe. And sorry about this chap bein shorter than usually. Just really wanted to get this out before the weekend was over and plus I can’t write fight scenes well for the life of me. Ok, bye!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait but if you had read my posts you’d understand. Mourning isn’t exactly the best mindset to write with, that is unless your writing something sad then I guess it works.
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

 

Lance pulled at the suit Coran was looking at. Coran had found the old prince suit in storage that used to belong to Alfor in his youth. Coran did some adjustments then allowed Lance to look in a mirror to see how he looked. “You look dashing. Just like your father,” Coran said with a smile and Lance smiled at him through the mirror.

“Thanks,” he said before turning and giving the Altean a hug. He then pulled back and grabbed his bayard putting it on his belt before following Coran out of his room and toward Allura’s. Coran raised a hand and knocked giving her warning before opening the door. Allura was sitting on a chair at a vanity and he walked up behind her. “Would it be ok if I did your hair?” he asked and she smiled.

“I’d be delighted to see some styles human women do,” she agreed and Lance smiled, rubbing Allura’s wings quickly before grabbing a brush. He brushed through Allura’s hair, smoothing it out before sectioning it out and doing a french braid, a hairstyle taught to him by Lyla to do on his little sisters. He then reached over and took a ribbon off the vanity and tied it in her hair. He smiled at her through the mirror and grabbed a hand one and held it so she could see for herself and she gasped. “It’s wonderful Lance!” she said, wings puffing up in excitement. She turned on the chair and pulled Lance into a hug. Lance’s wings puffed up in surprise before wrapping around Allura as he hugged her back.

“Your welcome,” he whispered before pulling back and smiled at her. “You’d love the family that took me in,” he said and she nodded.

“I’m sure I will from what I could see,” she said, her hands clasped onto his forearms tightly. “I can’t wait to meet them,” she said as she stood up and Lance nodded.

“Me too,” he said as they walked out of her room and down the hall toward the entrance way. They walk the rest of the way in silence and soon the others join them and they soon arrive at the staircase. The paladins walk down the steps while Lance and Allura stay at the top and Coran soon follows after a smile. The lions join the party and stay at the top of the steps while the arusians enter slowly. Soon the leader comes up the steps and they bow to each other.

“Princess, Prince, and Paladins of Voltron, the people of my village offer you this re-enactment of the battle!” the leader called out and the two smiled as the battle scene commenced. “The monster fell from the sky! It was an epic battle, but Voltron was victorious!” the chief leader explained raising his arms and the Arusians that stood on top of each other that was the robeast Myzax threw a rock at ‘Voltron’ and the Arusians fell with a yelp. “No. I said, ‘Voltron was victorious!’,” and the Voltron people quickly reassembled and the robeast people fell.

All the Arusians that made up the audience shouted as Lance and Allura looked at each other before looking to the leader. “Thank you, Your Majesty , for that…..wonderful production,” she looked to the side trying to think of a word before continuing and looking at the audience. “It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow, but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe,” she said before turning to the leader. Lance handed her a device that he had been holding and she held it out with a smile. “Your Highness….please accept this gift. This will allow you to contact us anytime you need help,” she stood upright once the leader took the device. “Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance.”

“Hoorah!” the shouted turning to his people and holding the device up. A small chuckle escaped Lance’s lips at the sight of the Arusians being so happy about a simple device and an Alliance. Lance walked down the steps toward Hunk and Keith who stood next to each other and heard Hunk’s words.

“We should get a team cheer or something,” and Lance smiled at Hunk.

“Hmm, ya. How about, uh….. ‘I say ‘Vol’ and you say ‘Tron’. Vol!” he started and Hunk smiled liking the idea. He waited for Keith to continue but he looked lost at Lance.

“Uh….Voltron?” he said confused and Lance had a slightly annoyed but fond look.

“No, Keith. The cheer includes the instructions. I say ‘Vol’, you say….” he said and Hunk nodded encouragingly.

“Voltron?” Keith asked and a small smile came to Lance lips.

“Tron,” Hunk said and Lance reached out to high five him.

“Well work on it for you,” he said to Keith who looked both worried, confused and a little upset. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it!” he told Keith with a smile wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulders as Hunk patted his back. He then raised his cup and drank the liquid inside and made a choking noise and coughed when he finally got it down and he turned to Coran. “Are you sure this is Nunvill?” he asked and Coran nodded. “I think it went bad after 10,000 years,” he said and Coran took a sip himself and nodded agreement.

“Seems so, but it can be used as a wonderful hair tonic still!” Coran agreed and walked off toward Shiro who was leaning against the wall looking out. Lance turned to Hunk and Keith and shook his head.

“Don’t drink the Nunvill. It went bad,” he said and they nodded.

“Ok then,” Keith said looking curiously at Lance who looked sick.

“Not feeling well?” Coran asked and Shiro shook his head in disagreement.

“No. I don’t think we should allow everyone to wander in and out of the Castle like this. It doesn’t seem safe,” Shiro said looking to the entrance as a few Arusians wandered outside.

“Oh, these Arusians won’t hurt anything….” he heard the hover tray fly by with clanking and saw two Arusians hanging on tipping it back and forth, “much,” he added after they crashed into a column with a grimace. He then turned back to Shiro with an easy look. “Besides, it’s only fair to let them see the inside of a castle that’s been sitting on their planet for so long,” he said and Shiro gave a small nod of understanding.

“I get that, but who knows when Zarkon might attack again if Sendak is alive? We have no clue if Sendak truly died in his ship,” he then pushed off the wall and started toward the entrance. “To be safe I’m going to do a perimeter check,” he said and Coran nodded.

Lance looked to see Keith talking to an Arusian and smiled before turning back to Hunk who looked sadly at his drink of ‘space juice’ as Katie named it. “You ok?” he asked and Hunk shrugged.

“We’re going to be stuck here for a while so we’re going to have to get used to this stuff,” he started. “Well, except for you since you’ve drank this before,” he continued with a small chuckle and Lance joined. It was nice to have a laugh since the thought of this battle was a daunting one. “But its still going to take a while,” he continued and Lance nodded agreement as Hunk looked at a dish with pink cylinders on sticks, a dish that was common for the Arusians. “Hey, what do you think the chances of us landing on a nacho planet?” he asked and Lance looked down.

“Well, the universe has been expanding since the last time I saw the star maps properly, so there's a chance. But there’s only two planets that have rambunctious children, Varadero Beach, huge fields of Juniberry’s, pizza shack looking over the water, my fathers encouraging words, my moms hugs…” he then felt the pressure of tears as he thought about everything he loved from both planets he’s called home, one destroyed by Zarkon, the other left behind. He ducked his head down to avoid the tears being seen and set the cup on a passing tray. “Sorry. The bad Nunvill is getting to me I think. I gotta go,” he said walking off and Hunk watched him go with wavering eyes.

Lance walked up the steps, his wings down and the bottoms dragging on the floor and steps. Hunk watched anxiously, his wings puffed with concern and he saw Coran following, his welcoming orange wings piqued in concern. Coran walked up the steps after Lance who sniffed quietly hoping to stop the tears from coming. Allura looked up and saw Coran shake his head indicating he’d help Lance and she nodded. She then turned back and saw Katie heading over to her. “Hello, Katie,” she greeted and Katie looked at her slightly confused.

“Who did your hair Allura?” she asked and Allura smiled.

“Lance did. Said he learned all types of hairstyles from his adoption family. So I allowed him to do it,” she said and Katie nodded. “So, we haven’t exactly been able to talk much, tell me about yourself,” she said and Katie shrugged.

“Well, I like peanut butter, and I like peanut butter cookies, but I hate peanuts. They’re so dry,” she said, eyes wide and her wings were up in slight irritation. “And these glasses were my brothers first pair that I took the lenses out and put normal glass so that it’d keep the illusion that I’m blind. I keep wearing them so that I have something of his,” she said and Allura bent down and placed her hands on her shoulders.

“That’s a good start. I was wondering about something more personal. But I can see that now isn’t a good time. Just know that when you need it, you can confide in me,” she said straightening. “If there’s anything at all…” she said leaning down again since she had a feeling something was bothering her and she wanted to know.

“I found a trail to find my brother and father. I have a pod ready to go, but…,” Katie trailed off looking at the ground and Rover beeped at her side.

“Katie please. You’re part of Voltron, one of five Paladins. If you stay we can save your family and prevent others from suffering the same fate,” she tried and Katie nodded understanding but still had conviction in her eyes. “At the very least, let’s discuss this with the others, they could give more points on staying,” she said and they then walked off to find Shiro, Hunk and Keith since she already knew Coran was with her brother who would also have said the same points about.

**XXX**

“Mind if I join you?” Coran asked coming onto the bridge where he saw Lance staring sadly at where Altea used to be. Coran jumped down to the lowered floor and Lance looked up.

“Nah. How far do you think we are from Earth, Coran? Earth’s become a second home for me and we never got to tell our families what’s going on. They’re probably worried sick about us all. Especially Katie’s mom,” he said and Coran nodded.

“Well, let’s figure it out,” he then had the map shrink down so most of the universe was shown. A little screen popped up. “How do you spell it now?” he asked and Lance laughed standing up.

“I’ll do it,” he walked to Coran’s side and quickly typed in Earth and it’s solar system and it popped up in a bright green color and they saw the big gap between the two.

“Looks like it’s ten Quantum Cycles away when by normal ship. But by wormhole, about three quintants,” he said cheerily and Lance smiled.

“Thanks, Coran,” he said standing up and looking at the small Earth. “Have you ever noticed how far the planets are from each other? Like even by wormholes they’re still far apart and take a while to get to?” he asked and Coran shook his head. “Like say Earth, its so far I can’t even see it. The….the blue oceans, white clouds, green grass...I can’t see any of it. All those things calmed me, reminded me of Altea even though I didn’t know why it seemed familiar,” he said and Coran wrapped a wing around Lance.

“I get it. You miss both Earth and Altea,” he said and Lance nodded.

“Ya, I know you and ‘Lura miss Altea more sense for you it seemed like Altea was thriving just yesterday, but for me….I felt a pain in my chest that I didn’t find out till a few days ago why. And then I was ripped from the only other that reminded me of Altea. It hurts,” he said and Coran nodded, wrapping an arm around to rub Lance’s arms as his wing ruffled Lance’s feathers.

“I get it. It’s hard mourning for an entire planet,” he said and Lance moved his head back so he looked up at the ceiling.

“I know we’re supposed to be brave paladins, defenders of the universe and I’m supposed to be a courteous prince, and all that,” he started and his head went down so he looked to the floor. “But honestly, I just wish I was back on Altea, hanging with Allura, Ilek and Tsra. Or even back on Earth with all my adopted siblings. I had to grow up fast. I felt it, felt that I had to grow up for something. I never lived my childhood like others,” he continued. “I miss the rain and splashing in its puddles with my siblings,” he finished.

“I understand. If I could, I’d turn back time and have this stopped so you wouldn’t have to fight,” Coran said looking at Lance as he retracted the his wing from around Lance’s shoulders. “And rain?” he asked and Lance smiled.

“Ya, it’s sorta like what was on Altea, only it was water and cold. It felt amazing,” he said and Coran hummed. The door opened and Lance turned to see that Blue was making her way in and rubbed against his legs and he smiled. Coran then wrapped both arms around Lance, pulling him into a hug and Blue wrapped her tail around his legs. Lance wrapped his own arms around Coran, burying his head into Coran’s shoulder as tears beaded up in his eyes.

“It’s alright. When we’re able to, we’ll visit Earth,” he said and Lance smiled into his shoulder and nodded.

**XXX**

“Katie, no,” Shiro said looking down at the young paladin.

“The download from the Galra ship was enough to get me in the right direction to start. I have a pod ready should I do leave,” she said and Keith stepped forward.

“You can’t leave, Katie. What if we need Voltron? We won’t be able to form without you! Look at these Arusians,” he said gesturing to the hall filled with the chatter and music of Arusians. “If you leave, you’re going to make it possible for Zarkon to separate these families like they’ve already done to so many,” he said. “Everyone has a family they want to protect and your part of Voltron who’s supposed to help protect them,” he said and Hunk stepped forward.

“Yeah, I have a family. They live on Earth. I want to be with them, but I also know that if I want them safe I have to stay,” Hunk said and Shiro nodded before stepping forward and placing a hand on Katie’s shoulder.

“If I could, I’d go see my parents, but I can’t. If we leave, then we risk Earth, our families, and so many other planets with families getting hurt and separated. That’s something I don’t want to happen. So please, don’t go. You don’t even know if you’ll be able to find anything that’ll continue leading you,” Shiro tried and Katie nodded.

“Alright. I’ll stay, let’s protect all these families,” she said and they all smiled.

“I shall go find Lance then,” Allura said turning to the stairs and they looked at her confused.

“Where is he?” Shiro asked and Allura turned.

“Oh, he went off and Coran went with him to talk. I believe he’s still having a hard time with everything,” she said and they all turned to go with her. A rumbling started and and the whole castle shook, causing everyone to stumble and the Arusians shouted in fright.

**XXX**

They stepped apart and smiled. “Thanks, Coran,” Lance said smiling and Coran smiled back. “Why don’t we get back to the others,” he said and Coran nodded. “Blue, go ahead of us,” he said and Blue nodded, purring in agreement before rushing out. They soon followed after, Blue becoming a dot in the distance and Rover flew in. “Hey, Rover,” he greeted. Lance then turned back, brows furrowed in thought. “Wait, where’s Katie?” he asked as the not-Rover flew to the crystal and his eyes widened. A gasp pulled itself from Lance’s lips as the drone beeped and blinked red. “Look out!” he shouted jumping onto Coran and blocking him from the blast as Coran gasped as well as he saw the explosion.

All Lance felt was blinding, white hot pain as he covered Coran with both his body and wings. He then fell gratefully into unconsciousness as debris crashed into him.

**XXX**

Blue raced through the halls even faster after the explosion, feeling her cub’s consciousness slipping from her as he went under. The other lions could sense her fear and raced with the others to where she was. Soon they came together in a hall as the paladins and Allura looked down at Blue with concern. Blue told her sisters and mate that an explosion happened in the bridge before leading them, wanting to get back to her cub. She felt Red in her mind, trying to sooth her as they raced side by side to the bridge with the others in tow.

They entered the bridge and smoke covered everything with debris littering the ground and scorch marks marked the floor, ceiling and even the walls. A coughing and groaning had them going forward and saw Coran getting up with trouble. “What happened?” Shiro asked kneeling beside Coran as Red and Blue continued forward.

“I’m not sure,” Coran said with a groan and they heard a sad sound of a mewl. They looked forward and saw Blue patting Lance’s arm and they all gasped. Shiro, Keith, and Allura all rushed forward to him. Keith kneeled down and pulled Lance up gently as he groaned in pain from moving.

“Lance!” they shouted.

“We have to get Lance to the infirmary!” Katie said as Hunk nodded agreement with Coran using Hunk as support.

“Without the crystal, the castle has no power,” Allura said and Keith looked to Shiro desperately, he could feel from Red, Blue’s worry for her cub\paladin.

“He doesn’t look good,” Shiro said looking up to everyone after he examined Lance. “Don’t you have any med kits that can be used to help?” rapid footsteps then could be heard and the leader came running up.

“Lion warriors, our village is under attack! We need help!” he shouted looking around.

“Ok, Princess, can you take Katie to get any med supplies while Keith and I go to the village?” he asked and Allura looked between Lance, Shiro and Katie.

“You stay, I’ll go with Keith. I brought this upon the Arusians,” she said and Shiro started to shake his head. “The lions will know where the supplies are. Red, Green, and Yellow, please stay here to help defend the castle. Black and Blue, come with us since you’ll be able to help,” Allura said and Keith looked to her with questioning eyes. “I assume there’s going to be fires and both of them can put them out,” he explained and Keith nodded. “Coran, Hunk, you’ll go get a new crystal with thee pod Katie was going to use,” she explained and everyone nodded.

Keith let Shiro pull Lance into his arms while he ran through the halls with Allura and the chief down to their village. Blue and Black ran in front with Blue looking back occasionally.

_ Protect him, my friends _ , Blue said to the lions and Red purred back.

_ We will _ , Red replied and Blue purred thanks as she continued to run down the halls with Black, Keith, Allura and the Arusian leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so here it is! Next chap! Whoh! Sorry about the delay. That was a combination of sadness, business and then finally AO3 went down so ya, couldn’t do much about that. Sorry. Hopefully next chap won’t take as long. Key word: hope.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, 'bout the delay! ok, so some cleaning, fighting and whatnot happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT CHAP! THE CLIFFY IS NO MORE! That is tho, as long as there isn’t another episode like this. Haha. So, sorry about updating late, since I try updating on Saturdays. Ya, I had the ACT and I was DRAINED after it. Couldn’t get much done, sorry. Hopefully next chap will be posted saturday. Ok, here’s the story!! Now onto my other works! (i have a good amount waiting)
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

 

Katie ran into lounge where Shiro was with Red looking over Lance. She held supplies in a box with Yellow and Green following with Rover hovering by her shoulder. He grabbed a cloth and dipped it in the bowl he got and swished it around in the space equivalent of water. He pulled it out, rung it some and then started wiping away dirt and blood while cleaning the wounds he got. Once satisfied with the parts that got the worse he then moved to Lance’s wings which were bad. While he did that, Katie looked for the paste to help keep the wounds clean when they heard it.

A dull, hollow clanking resounded throughout the halls toward them. “Hide!” he whisper shouted to Katie who nodded taking Rover, Green and Yellow with her. Shiro stood up and went to the hall and looked down it. Red stayed at Lance’s side and growled in anger. He sucked in a breath when he saw Sendak walking down the hall with another Galra and some damaged sentries behind them pulling what looks to be a corrupted crystal.

He activated his hand and stepped out into the entrance with a scowl on his face. “You won’t get through,” he said Sendak stopped in the hall and looked at him with a sneer.

“I believe I will be. I will not disappoint my Emperor,  _ Champion _ ,” he sneered and Shiro sucked in a breath. “He’ll be very glad to have you back along with the prince,” he continued. “Where is the dear prince that pilots the Blue Lion?” he asked mocked worriedly and Shiro sneered at him.

“Your not getting either of us!” he then ran forward and swiped his hand at the Galra who raised his own enhanced arm.

“I see you’ve been with the druids to get that arm. To bad you didn’t get the latest model,” he said and swiped the huge appendage at Shiro. Shiro rolled out of the way and swung his arm forward ready to hit Sendak’s face with a solid punch. Sendak raised his hand and stopped it with a fist. He smiled down at Shiro with an evil gleam.

His arm grew brighter and suddenly Shiro went flying back as Sendak’s arm went forward pushing back with incredible force.

Katie watched the fight with wide eyes and scooted back a ways before tapping her helmet that she placed on when she entered the vent. “Pidge! Keith!” she whispered into it and she heard a bit of static.

“ _ Katie? _ ” Allura’s voice rang in her ears with confusion lacing the one word.

“Sendak’s here, he’s fighting Shiro, I’m in the vents. He told me to go into them so Sendak wouldn’t know if anyone else is here with Rover, Yellow and Green,” she explained.

“ _ Got it, Keith just went down into the village to see who the attackers are _ ,” Allura said.

“Tell him to come back! It’s most likely a diversion to weaken the castle defenses! He knows Lance didn’t leave the castle since he most likely watched you guys leave. Hurry before he does something!” she said and she heard rustling.

“ _ We’ll come as fast as possible, Blue and Black are quickly putting the fires out _ ,” she replied and Katie sighed.

“Alright,” she said and went quiet, going back to the front to see what was happening. The two were right next to the door leading to the lounge where Lance was laying unconscious. She jerked her head and the lions went back allowing her to do the same and she made her way to the vent that opened to the lounge.

Shiro growled as he grabbed Sendak’s extended arm and threw him away from him. Sendak growled as he rolled on the floor. A growl echoed through the room and he turned to see Red there looking at him angrily. She then grew a bit so she was above Shiro’s waist and growled again. Standing in front of Lance protectively. She then lunged at Sendak only for him to dive away. She skidded on the ground and turned around to look at him. Shiro went next to Red and went into a ready stance.

“Stand down, paladin, if you want your friend to live,” a galra said and Shiro turned to look. In the other living Galra’s hand was Lance and he tossed Lance down like a rag. Beside Shiro, Red growled when she felt Blue’s concern as Lance’s pain flared up.

“You’re bluffing. Zarkon wants Lance alive for whatever crazy thing he wants. You wouldn’t risk Zarkon’s wrath,” Shiro said.

“True, but that doesn’t mean I have to show up with him in one piece,” Sendak said with a sneer and Shiro’s eyes widened.  _ Black, tell Green to have Katie do something _ , he thought and heard Black purr in his mind, showing that they’re almost there. “Haxus, get that to the bridge,” he continued and the other nodded before pulling the crystal with him out the room.

Katie looked at the lions beside her and they both looked worried. “Stay here, Yellow,” she whispered and Yellow nodded. “If they move, follow them,” she finished and Yellow nodded again and Katie then started crawling through the vents with Green beside her. She made her way to the Bridge and came out of a vent in a hall that connected to the hall leading to the bridge. Right then all the lights turned on but in an eerie purple color and Katie’s eyes widened. “We have to hurry,” she whispered and Green nodded.

A sentry droid went over to Lance with a syringe and Shiro narrowed his eyes. “What’s in that?” he growled out and on the floor Lance stirred with a groan.

“Oh, just something that will relax the prince,” Sendak sneered with a smirk as the sentry leaned down only for Lance to swipe it away with a fire burning in his exhausted eyes. He breathed heavily as he knocked the syringe away and it clanked to the floor. Red then turned to it and blasted it with a laser and it shattered. Sendak growled as he looked toward Lance. Lance had a smirk and reached for his bayard pulling it out and leveled it at Sendak.

“You try anything and I’ll shoot,” Lance said with a heavy breath and Sendak looked at Lance before he smirked.

“You can’t stand there all day. I know you’re injured and need healing. All we have to do is wait until then,” Sendak said and Lance’s lips pulled into a sneer.

“Like I’ll allow you to walk freely in my family’s castle,” he said his ear twitched as he heard movement. He whirled around and shot off three of the four sentries before his world tilted from his sudden movement and he collapsed to the ground with a groan.

“Know for you,” Sendak sneered and both Red and Shiro growled at him.

“You’ll see that we’re hard to take down when you threaten our friend,” Shiro said before running at Sendak.

Katie lifted her bayard and shot the hook at the man. The hook curled around the man's leg as he typed away and a shock went through him. He yelled out and fell to the ground before looking up at her. “So there’s another in the castle,” he said and Katie’s eyes narrowed at him. Green growled beside her and Rover beeped.

“And your going down. No one hurts my family and gets away with it,” she growled.

“Hah, a kid taking down me? Only success or death will stop me and you certainly won’t be stopping me,” he said with a sneer and Katie growled.

“I’m not a child, I’m a Paladin of Voltron!” she shouted going forward and shooting her bayard out again ready to shock him again. The Galra dodged the attack attack, having the hook and its glowing rope wrap around his sword and pulled it forward. Katie grunted as she hit the ground and the Galra smirked down at her.

“ _ We’re on the bridge! The barrier’s coming down! Hurry! _ ” Allura’s voice called out.

“Shiro’s in the lounge fighting, and I’m in the Bridge,” she whispered after she heard them shout in glee at making it in. “Hurry!” she shouted as she went backwards from the sword, narrowly dodging it. Green looked up and shot a laser at him causing the Galra to jump to the side as Katie dove for her bayard. She pulled it up and aimed it at the Galra as Rover and Green prevented him from moving. She shot it at his chest and it bit into his arm sticking and wave after wave of electricity went to and through his body causing him to convulse, falling to the ground and yelling. He soon went still and she went to him checking for a pulse and found a faint one.

“Next, get the crystal out,” she then went over to the crystal and pulled the tubes running from the castle to the crystal off hurriedly. The lights went down and she sighed in relief before running down the halls.

Shiro rolled to the side and saw in the vent was Yellow. Shiro nodded and Yellow came out with a clang, also growing to the size Red was currently. Shiro smirked and ran at Sendak with a roar. His arm cut across Sendak’s cyborg on before going to the armor. He jumped back from Shiro’s arm and Red shot a blast at him causing him to dive away. Red backed up a bit so that she stood above Lance’s body and Yellow stood beside her, ready to shoot Sendak into the next dimension with a glare.

He raised his arm up and suddenly the eerie purple light that went on about twenty minutes ago went off, the only light coming from his hand. Footsteps rang through the halls and his smirk turned to a smile at seeing the others coming. He heard Blue’s roars and Lance shifted slightly under Red, “B-...blue?” he weakly looked down the hall and smiled before letting his head fall back to the ground with a grunt.

“Lance!” Allura calls running in changed up. Instead of her usual brown skin and white hair, she’s taller, pink skinned and had blue hair.. Sendak looked at her in confusion.

“Who are you?” he asked as she went to her brother's side as Blue and Black came up beside Yellow and Red who had stepped next to Shiro. Sendak looked around and saw another person running down the hall with something hovering over their shoulder with another thing running at their feet. They came into the room and Sendak sneered as he saw it was the Green paladin with the Galra drone and the green lion. “What have you done to Haxus?” he demanded and Katie smirked.

“He’s out of commission for the time being,” she said and Sendak snarled, throwing a claw at her and picking her up. Katie yelled out in surprise then pain as Sendak tightened his grip around her and they all glared.

“Give me the  _ Prince _ ,” he sneered and everyone looked over to Allura who was covering Lance’s body protectively. Keith growled at Sendak as he stepped in front of both Allura and Lance.

“You’re not getting him,” Keith said and Sendak tilted his head ever so slightly with a conceited smirk.

“Then we’re stuck. I’m not leaving without the prince and you won’t attack me since any movement you do, will result in the green ones death,” he said and Keith snarled as he looked around. His eyes landed on Blue who slinked behind Sendak quietly without the Commander noticing and Keith smirked toward her who nodded.

“You sure about that? She’s a genius. I’m sure she’ll get out of your grip or get us an opening to defeat you,” Keith said and Sendak looked at Katie in his grip.

“She’s nothing but a child. You expect her to stop me?” he asked and Keith nodded.

“Yeah, she was able to reprogram one of your drones, hack your ships before that and managed to translate all your records she’s gotten into English. I’d say that’s genius,” he said and Katie looked between the two and saw a quick flash of blue and smirked.

“Ya! I’ve already thought of multiple ways you could be defeated by. Just a matter of time. Not to mention, if Lance had been in perfect health, he’d have stopped you. You should be glad your stupid bomb took him out,” Katie said joining in and heard from Green that Blue was ready. Katie smirked looking back at Sendak as Keith and Shiro moved into ready positions. “Not to mention, Blue’s gonna make you pay, along with all the other lions for that matter, for hurting her paladin,” she said and Sendak looked at her confused. He then shouted out as the laser shot from Blue’s tail hit him square in the back making him go forward while dropping Katie down, turning with a snarl on his lips.

Blue ran forward under his hand over to Katie. She then got Katie onto her back and ran away as Shiro, Keith and the other lions attacked Sendak. Shiro swung his glowing hand at Sendak, twisting his body and then had his wing continue forward knocking Sendak backwards. Keith then came up and swung his sword at Sendak’s chest and the commander jumped back. Katie raised her bayard from where she laid on top of Blue and aimed it at Sendak. Blue’s tail suddenly wrapped around her arm, steadying it from its unknown shaking. She nodded thanks before having it shoot across the room at Sendak where it wrapped around his giant cyborg arm before shooting waves of electricity through him and he yelled out.

Sendak arched backwards as he was shocked and Keith went up and cut through the magic that connected the arm to his shoulder. The cyborg arm fell to the ground with a clank and Sendak roared in rage. He was weakened from the shock but he wouldn’t back down. He ran toward Keith and swept his claw at him. Keith raised up his arm and a sheild appeared, blocking Sendak’s claw from his goal. Shiro then came up from behind and swung his metal hand hard at Sendak’s head. The arm was powered off but it would still hurt like crazy.

The arm hit Sendak’s head with a crack and he stumbled forward dazed. Allura suddenly flew forward and turned, her wing catching Sendak’s side and forcing him back. He flew across the room and hit the wall with a thud. He looked up dazed at them with rage filled eyes. Katie looked over at him and was helped over by Blue who looked down with a smug aura around her. Katie raised the her blade and shot it at Sendak again causing him to be tazed. He then collapsed to the ground unconscious and everyone then turned back to Lance.

Allura and Keith ran over and kneeled next to him feeling for his pulse and finding it faint. “Oh no,” she said and they looked at her with worry.

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked.

“His pulse is faint,” she said, worry laced her words and Blue walked up and rubbed both Allura’s legs and Lance’s arm. Lance stirred weakly then and a faint, pained smile painted his lips then.

“Heh, we did it,” he said weakly looking at Blue before turning to Keith. “We are a good team,” he continued before slumping down. Keith reached forward, pulling Lance to him as he looked at Lance confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked and Lance turned his head to Blue.

“She’ll explain,” he whispered before falling backwards. Keith tightened his hold, bringing Lance to his chest so he slumped there, breath shallow.

“Can someone contact Coran and see how close they are?” Keith asked and Allura nodded standing up and walking a little away.

“Coran, how far away are you? We need that crystal fast,” she said and they heard a shout and then an explosion of sorts.

“ _ We’re now leaving the Balmera, Princess. We shall get back in five of their Earth minutes, _ ” his voice rang out and she sighed.

“Can you try making that faster? I fear for Lance’s health,” she said and there was a harsh intake of breath presumably from Hunk.

“ _ We’ll try _ ,” Coran replied.

“That’s all I can ask,” she replied and the line went silent then.

**XXX**

Haggar looked over at Zarkon with a tilt of her head. “You called for me, sire,” she said coming to stand by his throne and Zarkon nodded.

“Yes,” he replied curtly. “I want you to make a potion or use your magic on Lance and make him young again, the age he was before this started and make him forget everything that happened after that. If we do that, then we shall be able to train him to believe our ways and think its Allura who betrayed,” he said and Haggar nodded.

“I shall see what I can do sire. It will take a while. I shall contact you when I have it figured out,” she said with a small bow of her head.

“Good. You may go,” he then looked out the window as she turned and left the room with a flick of her cape. “You shall join me Lance, like you once did,” he spoke to himself, thinking back to the old days at the Castle after Paladin training, Lance would sometimes join him in a walk around as he told the young prince about Galra culture. He missed having the young prince around, he had an aura about him that could light up any room. He remembered those days fondly when Lance would join them during training, excited by anything and everything. He was one of the few things he missed when he decided to go to war. He was part of the reason he regretted ever talking to the witch Haggar.

But the one thing he regrets most, is killing his best friend and father of Lance, Alfor. After he caused the death of Alfor did he start questioning everything. But whenever the witch would come and then he'd ‘remember’ why he was doing everything. But he still couldn't get the guilt and questions out. He knew Alfor didn't do anything wrong but his head kept saying Alfor did, and that if he were to rule everyone then there would be no fighting. But he knew that was wrong. There would always be fighting, no matter who ruled or of it was one empire or not. There would always be conflict, no matter what. One planet will always be fighting, either against the ruler or as a whole against another person.

“Maybe, it’ll change with you here,” he talked aloud. “You could help me fix this,” he said looking out the window to look at the ships waiting for orders.

**XXX**

Keith watched as the glass slid up over Lance’s unconscious form. Coran was at the pods side typing something with Allura beside him. Hunk stood back with Katie and Shiro was beside him. Red and Blue were back to their normal size and were laying in front of the pod. Black was in sitting in front of Sendak and Haxus who were unconscious in extraction pods. That left Yellow and Green who were with their paladins comforting them. Hunk and Coran had arrived some time after Sendak went down and they looked at Lance concerned, especially after told by Blue to the other lions what happened.

Only Coran had a mild look of understanding at what happened while everyone else was confused, including the princess. After Lance went unconscious the second time, his mind went to Blue who allowed him to move her where he wanted before telling her to shot. “How long will he be in there?” Keith asked finally as Shiro placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“He’ll be in there for a day and a half. His wings were badly damaged in the explosion but should make a full recovery. We won’t know until he gets out and test them,” Coran explained and everyone nodded agreement.

“Let’s get some rest, team. It’s been a rough night,” Shiro said and Allura nodded.

“I’ll let you know when my brother will come out,” Allura said and with that everyone went toward their own rooms. Keith laid down in his bed after he changed. But sleep wouldn’t come to him and he tossed and turned before settling with staring at the ceiling. A sigh escaped him as he sat up, the blanket pooling around his waist. A hiss sounded and he looked toward his door as it opened, looking confused as Blue came into the room and purred at him.

“Blue, what are you doing here?” he asked and she purred again as she jumped onto the bed. He tilted his head to the side in question. Blue meowed and tapped Keith’s chest until he laid down and she laid her head on his chest, paws on either side of her head. She purred again, nuzzling her head against his chest. “Why aren’t you with Lance, Blue?” he asked and he felt Red this time showing him images and explaining that she would be with Lance as Blue comforted him. Keith gave a small smile at that.

“Thanks, Blue,” he whispered and turned to his side so he could put an arm over Blue’s body. Blue let off a hum of sorts and rubbed his chest and collarbone. A sigh escaped Keith’s lips as Blue continued her purr\hum and he soon fell to a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, so that was kinda cute. Lance’s wings are still unknown if they’ll be fine. We’ll see next chap. And, again, I’m sorry about the delay. I guess I was more drained than I thought. I hoped I would’ve gotten this out yesterday but alas, I was too drained to think. Hopefully next chap will be published on time. Until then, GOODBYE MY LOVELY READERS!!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry about it bein late!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chap!!! Whoa!! I love how lots of people are worried about Lance and his wings. You people are awesome. And I like the ones that also started wondering about some of the things done. Those comments make me think too. Sorry for the delay. It was interesting since I lost access to a computer for a while then this one fic, my cinderella one, my brain decided to have whatever thoughts that I had on how to end it fly out the window. So ya, I wanted to finish that one since it’s been waiting for a while. Hopefully this won’t be a recurring theme. Key word: hopefully. Ok, here it is!  
> Tumblr: paladinwilla  
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

All Lance could feel was cold. A mind numbing cold that he couldn’t do anything about. He couldn’t remember what happened after the bomb. All he could come up with was a hazy battle with Sendak before he fainted.

Keith sat outside the pod before standing again. He started pacing the room and occasionally stopped to look at Lance who looked tense in the pod. His wings looked better but there was no guarantee he’d be able to fly without having to change into a different form. It was the second day that Lance was inside the pod, soo others started coming in too when it was around the afternoon about.

“I can’t tell if he looks healthy or not,” Hunk said as they crowded around the pod. Keith stood beside the pod on the side waiting anxiously for him to come out. Katie was pressed against looking into it with Hunk behind her. Both looking at the pod curiously. Allura stood on the other side and Shiro was in back, looking through a gap between Hunk and Keith. The lions waited by the entrance for Lance to come out. Though Red had to lay slightly on top of Blue to keep her from pacing or running up to the pod.

Everyone had varying looks of concern on their faces as they all waited impatiently. “I think he’s breathing weird,” Katie said.

“Oh, come on!” Keith said poking the pod and Allura whacked his hand away.

“Not yet! A few more ticks,” she said and everyone looked at her. They still didn’t know Altean time well, especially when they asked Coran to help. Only Lance it seemed knew the differences between since he was taught both.

“How much better do you think he’s gonna get in a few more ticks?” Keith asked turning to Allura who was looking at him too.

“We want to make sure he can use his wings again, yes?” she asked and everyone nodded. “Then, having him stay in there until the pod says he’s done is what we’ll do. This gives Lance a better chance to use his wings again,” she said and Keith crossed his arms looking back at Lance with a small pout on his lips. The lions gave a laugh like sound and his pout turned into a slight scowl too at hearing the lion's laugh at him.

“How big is a tick anyway? We know it’s a time like a second. But how big is it?” Katie asked and Allura looked at them confused.

“What is a second?” she asked.

“It’s a time measurement like a tick,” Shiro said and Allura nodded. She then turned to Coran who was at a panel working on some things.

“Coran, do you have a ticker?” she asked and Coran turned to them.

“Right here, princess,” he said pulling it out and Katie took out her timer.

“Ok, let’s start them at the same time,” she said and they started their respective things at the same time. At first, Shiro and Keith stayed by the pod but then got curious. They crowded around Coran and Katie. Shiro moved a couple times to get a better spot to see and Keith laughed a little as Shiro did it.

“I think we’re winning!” Hunk said excitedly and Keith looked over at him unimpressed.

“Winning what? The intergalactic time-measuring competition?” he asked straightening.

“Yes,” Hunk replied, wings puffed up slightly in agitation, looking at Keith with a determined look and Keith sighed. A hiss sounded out as they continued looking at the two timers. Keith looked over at the pod and saw the glass disappear and lacne stumble out. He rushed over to Lance and caught him before he could fall to the floor. He could tell that his wings were healed all the way, but that didn’t mean they’d work.

“Lance!” everyone chorused coming toward them. Allura and Coran pulled Lance from Keith and hugged him tightly.

“You had me worried, my boy,” Coran said.

“Please don’t do that again. I don’t think I can handle losing you too,” Allura said and Lance wrapped his arms around the two of them.

“I’ll try my best,” he said and they nodded pulling back. Hunk and Katie then pulled Lance into a hug. Tears of relief went down Katie’s cheeks. She was terrified when Allura announced Lance’s heartbeat was faint. 

“I can’t lose you too, Lance. I don’t think I can handle losing another brother,” Katie said, her voice muffled by the pod healing suite. Hunk let Lance go and Lance bent down to properly hug Katie.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to worry you when I went in front of Coran,” he said and Katie sniffled. “Hey, don’t be upset, please. I’ll be more careful. Promise. Now why don’t we get something to eat. I’m hungry,” Lance said and Katie nodded. “Hey, is it ok if I do something that my adoptive siblings like when they’re upset?” he asked and Katie nodded. He smiled at her before picking her up with yell and he managed to get her onto his shoulders. “Up we go!”

When Lance lifted Katie up she shouted in surprise before laughing. She locked her ankles together  behind his back and placed her arms on his head. Rover floated up to her and Green looked up with an amused air. Lance kept his hands on her knees as he laughed himself. “Off we go!” she shouted pointing toward the door with a laugh. Lance laughed himself as he ran toward the door, Blue and Green following behind. Hunk laughed as he ran to catch up with Yellow at his side.

“Uh, ok,” Keith said shrugging before walking off too. Soon, Shiro and Allura followed with Red and Black in back. Coran stayed back to work on some stuff quickly before coming up to the kitchen. They arrive to the dining room and see Lance and Katie sitting at the table. Hunk is presumably in the kitchen and the mice are on the table. He takes a seat on Lance’s other side and grabs his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “How you feeling?” he asked and Lance smiled at him.

“Better. My wings are still sore, but that’s normal when they get healed in the pods,” he said and Keith nodded. Blue jumped up onto Lance’s lap before setting there and a small laugh escaped him. “I’m guessing she might not want to leave me alone for a while,” he commented and both Katie and Keith laughed slightly at that, knowing that was most likely true. Red jumped onto the table and curled up, keeping an eye on both Blue and Keith. Shiro and Allura stood behind Lance, Allura was leaning against the chair while Shiro had a hand on the chairs back.

“Do you remember anything from the bomb?” Allura asked and Lance glanced up at her before turning to the table.

“After the bomb went off, everything went white. Everything hurt, but it was my wings that hurt the most. It almost felt like they were torn apart like some soldiers said when their wings got hurt in battle. But then, I heard Red calling to me with Yellow also shouting, telling me to wake up before something happened. I remember whacking a vile away and then talking to Sendak about…...something,” Lance said waving his hand as he tried to remember what Sendak had said. “I shot down some sentry droids before going down again. After that, everything is either blank from being out or even fuzzier. I kinda remember reaching out to Blue, shooting someone and then talking to someone before going out again. I wish I remembered what happened,” he said and Keith tightened his grip on Lance’s hand while Allura wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“It’s ok Lance. Coran said there’d be some trouble remembering from that trauma for a little. In a couple days he’s confident you’ll get better recollection of it,” she said leaning back and he smiled. “And, you can thank Red, Shiro and Katie. Shiro and Red held Sendak back while we were coming back and Katie was able to stop Haxus from finishing the connection link to the crystal that would allow it to fly the castle,” she said and Lance smiled at them.

“Well, if Hunk and Coran hadn’t gotten back when they did with the crystal you wouldn’t have survived the bomb blast,” Katie pointed out and Lance gave a tight smile then. He wouldn’t be able to think about that incident for a while without tensing. Keith sensing that Lance was uncomfortable, raised a hand to Lance’s neck and started rubbing there. Lance smiled thanks as his muscles relaxed.

“Thanks, guys,” he said after a little and they nodded. “So where’s Sendak and Haxus?”

“Sendak is too dangerous to be set free so he’s in an extraction pod. Not to mention, we might be able to get some information from him about Zarkon and anything that’s happening. Haxus is in a high-tech surveillance cell. If he tries anything, we’ll see,” Allura said and right then Coran came into the dining room.

“Ah, hello my boy! How are you feeling?” Coran asked and Lance gave a rueful but fond smirk at him.

“Better,” he replied and Coran nodded.

“After you eat do you mind coming with me to the training deck to make sure your wings are all good?” Coran asked and Lance nodded.

“Of course,” he said and Coran nodded thanks, turning to the kitchen to help Hunk. “Allura, I think we should do a check of all the systems in the castle,” he said turning to look at her. Allura tilted her head in confusion.

“Why?” she asked and the others looked curious too.

“That crystal was purple. They only turn that color when corrupted. That corruption could have gone into the castle too. If we want to be safe, let’s take the AI out since it can access anything and everything in the castle until we know for sure the castle is clean. And, Katie,” he turned to the girl who looked serious while curious, “if you want to run test on the corrupted crystal, make sure it doesn’t connect to the castle. It could prove disastrous,” he finished and everyone nodded agreement.

“I’ll go unhook father then. But, should we need to, we’ll connect him back to ask for advice when needed,” she said and Lance nodded.

“Of course. When Coran gets back in here I’ll tell him,” with that, Allura left the room intent on making sure the AI would be safe from harm. It helped them accept the death of their planet and family. By allowing them to see their father and talk about happy times. Soon after, Hunk and Coran came back in with a plate of some dish Hunk created with the ingredients given by the Arusians. He took a few bites before taking a little bit out and placed it out in front of him allowing the mice to eat it.

The mice let off happy squeaks at it and they continued in silence until Lance looked over at Coran. “Coran,” he started and the advisor looked over at him curious, “Allura is unhooking fathers AI to protect it from any corruption that could have come onto the ship from the crystal being attached. Until we do a system check and make sure the castle systems are safe, we won’t have the AI connected,” he said and Coran nodded understanding.

“Of course. But the castle should be able to sense the corruption and deal with it,” Coran explained. “But, it’s always good to be safe,” he finished.

“Ya, that’s what I thought since we can still learn from father,” Lance said with a sigh. Both Keith and Katie squeezed a hand before leaning against him reassuringly. Lance smiled grateful to them, squeezing their hands back. “Why don’t we go see if my wings are safe?” he asked and Coran nodded.

“I’ll wait here should the princess come back to tell her where she is,” Shiro said and Lance nodded with a smirk.

“Of course,” he said standing up and the others followed suite. Lance pulled Blue into his arms as two of the mice, Platt and Chulatt went onto his shoulders while Plachu and Chuchule stayed with Shiro in the room. “Be good you two!” he said looked at the two mice before turning and leaving the room. They soon arrive into the training room and Lance let Blue, Platt and Chulatt onto the ground before walking to the center of the room.

“Let’s start with simply opening your wings,” Coran said and Lance did just that. He opened them to their full wingspan and holding it there. “Now flap them gently,” he instructed and Lance did as told. “Hovering?” he asked.

Lance took a deep breath before he started flapping his wings gently. He then slowly had them flapping faster and soon hovered over the ground. He opened his eyes that he didn’t realize he closed and smiled when he saw that he was hovering above the ground. “Land,” Coran said and Lance did as told. “Did you feel any tension, sharp pricks as you hovered?” he asked and Lance thought about it.

“No, everything was fine,” he replied shifting his wings slightly before giving a small grimace as his wings protested folding up. “Though, they are sore now,” he finished and Coran nodded.

“That’s to be expected. Ever Altean that’s gone into the pods always had sore wings after testing them for a little. I expect that in a day or so, you won’t be sore at all,” he explained cheerfully and Lance snorted a little and Coran’s enthusiasm.

“Of course,” Lance said and Coran chuckled slightly. “Why don’t we get back to Shiro and Allura,” he suggested and they nodded.

“Tomorrow I suggest we do some simple wing exercises to help strengthen those wings. That way you’ll be flying again in no time!” Coran said cheerfully and Lance nodded agreement.

“Sure,” they walked out of the training deck with the lions in front. Blue was carrying the two mice on her back with Red at her side. Keith walked beside Lance while Katie and Hunk stayed back to talk to Coran about some things in the castle.

“You’re sure your wings are just sore? I don’t want you overworking them and saying that everything is fine,” keith said and Lance smiled at him before taking Keith’s hand and swinging it between them.

“I’m sure. I’d never do anything that would risk my wings not healing. I love flying to much to do that,” Lance replied and Keith nodded. He knew Lance prefered using his wings to fly, he loved feeling the air rush past him.

“Yeah. I know, we all do,” he said conceding and Lance smiled. They continued walking in silence with the chatting of the others quietly behind them. They soon entered the dining room where Allura already was waiting, talking with Shiro quietly when they entered. They soon made it back to the kitchen and Allura was already there talking with Shiro about what to do next when they entered. Lance cleared his throat and the two looked over to them and smiled. Lance smiled as they went over to the table and he set his hands on it and leaned.

"So, Shiro was just telling me that you were testing your wings?" she asked, the unasked question of how it went rested between them.   
"Yup. And it went well. We're going to continue tomorrow since my wings are still sore from the attack," Lance replied with a smile and Allura smiled back.

“Let’s hope they heal quickly and safely,” she said and Lance nodded agreement. “For now, we finish doing repairs from the bomb and then leave Arus,” she finished and everyone nodded agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, sorry about it bein short. I’ve been tryin to write this since last weekend and what I had planned in my mind went bye bye. So ya. Sorry if this is too short for ya guys. Hopefully next update will be longer. HAVE A GREAT REST OF WEEKEND!!!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is really short. sorry. my brain.....is just friend from all the work and studying for the STAAR test on monday. so ya. this is short, hopefully next chap will be longer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s the next chap!! More repairs are done. Wing exercises and more!!  
> Tumblr: paladinwilla  
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle  
> (again, sorry its short. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ next time maybe)

Lance alternated between hovering for a few seconds to standing in the training room. Coran was beside him and Keith was at the other side fighting a gladiator. Blue and Red laid at the door with their tails entwined as they watched their paladins. “Alright, let’s take a break,” Coran said and Lance pulled his wings in so they were folded against his back, granted they were drooping from being tired and sore from the exercises. They’d been doing the exercises that would help for a couple hours now.

“Thanks,” he said grabbing the pouch from Coran’s outstretched hand.

“ _ Coran! Lance! The castle is almost ready! Please come up to the bridge to help with final preparation _ ,” Allura’s voice called out.

“Alright,” Lance said to his communication earring and turned to Coran and jerked his head a little. “I’ll see you in a bit Keith!” Lance called as he walked to the door with Coran. They went through the halls with Blue walking ahead of them.

“My boy, I do believe that by tomorrow you’ll be able to do everything you could before!” he said cheerily and Lance smiled.

“Really?” he asked turning his head so he could look at Coran. Coran had an excited look with his wings puffed up in excitement.

“Yes,” he replied. “Your wings are healing up nicely.”

“That’s great,” he said, his own wings puffed up in excitement. “We can tell Allura and the others this once the castle’s been launched,” he said and Coran nodded agreement. They then continue the walk in silence and soon arrive on the bridge and see Allura by the columns with a hologram up and typing on it. “What’s needed?” Lance asked and Allura turned to them and they see that the mice are on her shoulders.

“Coran, can you monitor to core while Lance goes down to the engines and links it back up?” she asked and the two nodded. Lance goes down the halls and soon makes it to the engine where the it is in neutral as a small ball of light.

“I’m here, heading to panel now,” Lance replied walking over to it and soon arrived and started typing at it. “Powering up sub panels,” he called and Allura hummed.

“ _ Sub panel transducer is up and going, _ ” she said and Lance hummed in kind looking up at the ball as it slowly came up again as it connected to the bridge, and by that, the crystal.

“Opening up a pathway to link with the bridge,” he continued as he typed away reading the text as it went by. “Initializing main cluster reboot…...now,” he called pressing one last thing. “Initializing complete. I’m set for main power up.”

“ _ The bridge is a go. You may proceed, _ ” Allura called.

“Ok, powering up, now,” he moved his fingers raising levels  to the lowest setting.

“ _ I see it, _ ” she replied. “ _ Start raising it slowly until it reaches the appropriate level for launch, _ ” she continued and Lance hummed. The engine hummed with energy all around him as arcs of energy went from it to points all around that allowed it to reach the thrusters and power them. He soon felt arms wrap around his waist and someone leaned against him. A smile made its way to his face as he continued his work. Soon, a chin went onto his right shoulder and he turned his head and gave a quick peck to Keith’s cheek.

Keith wrapped his wings around them both as he retracted his own wings, making it easier for Keith to hold him. Keith hummed as he let go quickly, allowing Lance to do that before hugging him again. “Raising levels now,” he said and he did that while Keith watched him curiously.

“So what’s going on?” he asked finally.

“Finishing preparations for launch. The engine needs to be reconnected to the bridge and crystal. Which it’s almost done,” he said as everything leveled out. “How’s it looking Allura?” he called and he heard her hum in thought.

“ _ Almost there _ ,” she called. “ _ There, come back up and be in Paladin gear, _ ” she finished and Lance hummed.

“Be up in a couple,” he called before turning to Keith. “Come on,” he said and Keith nodded, letting go and they walked down the hall and toward their rooms and quickly changed before heading up to the bridge. They soon arrived and the others came up soon after.

“We are going to launch, get seated and be ready,” she called and everyone walked to their seat the came up in their colors. They all sat down and screens popped up in front of them. Allura looked around at them before looking at the screens again. “Activate interlock,” she called to Coran.

“Dynotherms connected,” Coran called back.

“Mega-thrusters are a go,” she said.

“We are ready to depart Planet Arus on your mark, Princess,” Coran said as the windows flashed allowing them to see Arus’s blue sky.

“Firing main engines for launch,” she said and soon they felt the ship start taking off. Soon, they were in space and heading for the Balmera that Coran and Hunk had gone too. “We’ll arrive in a few hours to Balmera,” Allura said. “Feel free to move around,” she said and everyone stood up and migrated over to where Hunk was already pacing by Katie.

“So, when we get there, what do you think? Do we just roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of public address system, like, ‘Attention, Galras, this is Voltron. Turn yourselves in’?” he asked finally stopping his pacing to stick a mighty pose then turn to look at them in question. “No. Blasting, right?” he asked with a defeated kind of look at trying to figure it out.

“Hunk, calm down. And, yes, blasting,” Keith said leaning forward before leaning back once he knew Hunk was listening.

“It’s our first big rescue mission. He’s excited,” Shiro said with a smile and Lance snickered.

“It’s our FIRST ever rescue mission, and from what I heard, he wants to meet up his new girlfriend,” he said and Katie held a hand out to him and he gave her a high five.

“Ya, he’s excited to see his girlfriend!” she called bending her head back to look at Hunk instead of just turning.

Hunk let off a gasp before looking annoyed at them. “She’s not my girlfriend!” he then looked away trying to be neutral. “She’s just a rock that I met and admire very much,” he said and suddenly an alarm went off. Lance turned to Allura, a question on his face as the other gasp.

“What is it?” he asked and Coran started typing as he looked for it.

“Are we being attacked?” he asked.

“If we were lights would be flashing,” he said helpfully and they nodded understanding.

“No, it appears to be a distress beacon,” he called back to them as it showed on a holomap where it was.

“It’s coming from a nearby moon. Apparently, a ship has lost power,” Allura said explained.

“I wonder who it is,” Katie said and Hunk looked between them.

“Whoever it is will have to wait,” Hunk said. “Shay has first priority since her planet is hurting,” he tried using logic. “We can check back on them when we’re done,” he finished.

“The Paladin Code states that we must help all those in need,” she said and Lance nodded.

“Ya Hunk. We can’t just delay someone else if we can get to them. We’ll try to be quick in it to make sure we get back on track but there’s nothing we can do to stop it,” he said and Hunk nodded.

“Fine,” he said and they headed off toward the moon.

**XXX**

“Sire, I have finished the spell you asked for. All I require is a test subject to make sure it is functional,” Haggar said once she was at Zarkon’s side in the throne room. Zarkon nodded, happy with how everything is going.

“Is it permanent?” he asked and she shook her head.

“No it is not. After a week or two, he’d be his normal body again. As for his memory, it will be blank of everything new that has happened until someone or thing helps him regain it,” she said and Zarkon nodded.

“Do your test. Tell me how long it takes until the de-ageing has run it’s course and leaves the body,” he instructed and she nodded.

“Of course, sire. If my assumptions are correct, an Altean will be affected by this shorter than any other alien biology. But we won’t know until the Prince is hit of course,” she said and Zarkon nodded agreement. He knew that Altean biology runs differently than most from his time on Altea.

“Go, Vrepit Sa,” he said and Haggar nodded agreement.

“Vrepit Sa,” she replied before leaving the room.

“I’ll get you soon, Lance,” he said looking out the window toward the planet they heard he was on.

**XXX**

The castle ship slowly lowered onto the moon's surface as Coran quickly checked the atmosphere. He gave everyone a thumbs up and Allura turned on the speakers. “Attention, damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you,” she called and soon the ship landed. The columns which Allura used to help move the ship lowered and she looked over at Coran as they started going to the exit. “Stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy and corruption as you can,” she said and Coran nodded. “We’ll see who hailed us.”

“Yes, princess. And please be careful,” he said and the two royals nodded. The lions stood at the door waiting. They all walked over and instantly they all circled around Lance who rolled his eyes.

“Ya, ya, ya. I get it. You don’t wanna risk me getting hurt again,” Lance said as he walked down the hall while the others looked confused and mildly amused as Red and Blue walked right at his sides. Blue finally decided to climb up Lance’s legs and went to her perch at his shoulders. A smile made its way to his lips as he scratched her head. “I know you were worried. I promise I’ll try being safer next time,” he said and Blue purred content and the other lions followed suit, happy he’d try. They went to the ramp pod that would lower them to the ground and Allura pressed the button when everyone was in.

They felt it lift and then lower to the ground. They soon felt it stop and it opened up allowing them to see two aliens and a robot sitting at a makeshift camp by their ship. One was purple with wrappings around his lower torso and arms wearing a aviator hat with goggles. The other was yellow skinned with blue baggy pants and a short shirt. “You don’t know how glad we are to see some friendly faces,” the purple one said crossing his arms with a smirk\smile. They started walking towards the two as he continued talking. “Most folk don’t want to get tangled up with anyone who’s on the run from the Galra.”

As they heard that, all of them felt their eyes widened. Someone else was defying the Galra Empire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so that seemed like a good place to end. Again sorry if you were hoping for it to go on longer. I’m just brain fried right now that I can’t think of much. Hopefully this will go away soon, but we’ll see.  
> Ok, so, warning, but next chap might take a while to get out since I'm havin trouble writing for some reason. I believe it's because of all these stress-inducing things happening, not sure. But hopefully I'll be able to update something next week or in two weeks. I might start a new fic and see how that goes. we'll see. sorry again for this being short and for the fact that updates will slow down.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT CHAP!! Hopefully this is longer. Who knows, we’ll see by the end of it. Ya know, this is longer and not that late considering I had the SAT yesterday. Wow, this is a miracle. This doesn’t happen usually. Ok, back to it then.
> 
> Tumblr: paladinwilla
> 
> Twitter: PaladinWilla Prindle

 

Everyone looked at them in surprise. Lance took a hesitant step toward them, the lions moving with him. “You’re against the Galra?” he asked. “As in, fighting them?” The male and his female companion shared a look.

“You could say that,” he replied before stepping forward himself. “I’m Rolo, back there is Nyma and our cyber-unit, Beezer,” he introduced clasping Lance’s outstretched hand.

“I’m Prince Lance and the Blue Paladin. My sister Princess Allura is behind me and these are the other Paladins,” he introduced gesturing behind him before looking down at the lions. “And these are the Lions of Voltron in rest mode. When it’s time to fight they grow back to their normal size,” he explained but the two looked doubtful at them.

“Well, I don’t think Zarkon is exactly quaking in his boots at the three of us that are actively defying them, but we do what we can,” Rolo said and Lance nodded.

“Like what?” he asked and Allura nodded agreement.

“We get them whatever supplies we can, info from any informant about anything including prisoner transports, incoming transports and if possible, the next planets that are next in Zarkon’s conquest,” he said with a shrug. “That last one is mostly possibly by a resistance group that helps ours.”

“There are two resistances?” Allura asked this time and Rolo nodded.

“That we know of. There could be more that both groups are keeping from us. But, that would be smart, limit members knowledge so that it’s easier to keep everything secret,” he said and Lance nodded agreement.

“So what appears to be the problem with your ship?” he asked and Rolo nodded, flicking his cap up slightly with the tool in his hand.

“Was it damaged in a fight?” Shiro asked this time as they all walked closer to the ship and their camp.

“Yeah, we’ve been through it with the Galra. Parts are hard to come by. Luckily, we were able to limp to this moon about a week ago,” he explained looking back at the ship. “If you didn’t pick up our distress beacon--I,” he cut off and Allura stepped up so that she was standing beside Lance.

“We’re happy to help with any repairs needed. And from no on, you and your resistances, won’t be the only ones fighting the Galra,” she said and Rolo looked around at them with a careful expression.

“So the children tales true then, there really is a Voltron,” he said and Lance nodded.

“There is. And Voltron will help free the Universe,” he said and both Rolo and Nyma nodded.

“Let’s get to work on you ship. I’m sure we all have places to be,” Hunk said walking up to the opening and Rolo followed behind.

In the corner of his eye he saw Katie looking at and messing with Beezer. A fond smile made it’s way to his lips as he was reminded of his little sister who loved learning about tech, wanting to become an engineer when she was older. He turned back to the engine as Rolo gestured to the inside. “Pretty much the whole flaxum assembly is shot. I don’t know what kind of extra parts you carry in this rig of yours,” Rolo said gesturing up to the castle ship. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’m sure we can get you back up and running. Give Hunk a list of what you need. Coran can show you where to find it,” Allura said to Hunk and Hunk nodded.

“We’ll go with you. Don’t want you to have to carry all that by yourself,” Rolo said starting to walk forward only for Hunk to place a hand on his chest.

“Uh, I don’t think so. You can just wait out here,” Hunk said.

“Hunk,” Allura started and Lance placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry, but after the last time our defenses were down, Lance here got blown up and almost got captured and almost died. The lions sure do remember since they won’t leave him be,” Hunk pointed out and Lance nodded agreement.

“I certainly remember too. ‘Lura, Hunk’s right. We should be cautious after what happened,” Lance said and she nodded understanding. “So, Rolo, Nyma, please understand that we’re hesitant to let people into the castle,” he said looking at the traders who nodded.

“Hey, I don’t take it personal. That’s how it is out here. You’ve got to look out for your own. You’re doing a good job, big man. Just let us know what we can do to help,” Rolo said and Lance nodded.

“Of course, if you really want to, you can help Hunk pull the supplies once he gets the parts,” he said and Rolo nodded as he went over to Beezer as the robot printed a list. Katie looked excited as this happened and tapped near the opening that had the paper come out once Rolo pulled it out and the robot jumped back and made a hissing like noise. “Here’s all the parts,” Rolo handed the list to Hunk and he turned away and headed back to the castle.

“So, what made you want to fight the Galra?” Lance asked as they all sat in the makeshift camp. Rolo looked into the fire that was made with a distant look before looking back up at them.

“My planet was destroyed by the Galra and I was taken captive. I managed to escape, but not before I lost something,” he bent over and rolled up his pants on one leg and rapped his knuckles against the metal.

“I know exactly how that feels,” Shiro said raising his cyber arm and clenching his fist. And Rolo nodded understanding.

“Did they give you that leg or?” Lance asked curiously and Rolo looked back over to him as Shiro gave him a look. “If it’s too much, you don’t need to answer.”

“No, I don’t mind. And no to your question. Once I escaped and Nyma helped me, we found it and got it put in place. If it were Galra then it’d be more dangerous,” he said with a smirk and Lance smiled.

“Yes, well, it’s dangerous enough, just swing your leg at them if they don’t know and they’ll definitely find out it’s a good idea to duck,” he said and Rolo laughed at that.

“That they would,” he replied.

“I hope there are parts in here that’ll fit,” Hunk called and Rolo stood up nodding.

“So, what can you tell us about zarkon’s forces? Where are they concentrated?” Allura asked sitting on a crate.

“Well, his command ship sits right in the center of the Empire,” Rolo started as he looked at the parts in the crate. “He mostly calls the shots from there and has his minions do the work, depending on who’s closest,” he continued before looking up and out to the stars. “This is the territory of a real nasty bugger named Sendak,” Rolo said and a few growls went up.

“Oh, we’ve meet,” Keith said as he sat next to Lance as the lions continued glaring at the ship.

“You have?” Rolo asked and they nodded.

“Yeah, he’s the one that, uh, blew me up,” Lance said rubbing the back of his neck and Rolo nodded understanding.

“Can you tell us how far we are from the center?” Shiro asked and Rolo nodded.

“We’re way out on the fringes,” he said going over to the engine and started looking in.

“Can we focus on fixing the engine? I’d really like to get on to helping a hero that helped us get a new crystal to save Lance,” Hunk said and Rolo nodded with a smile.

“Of course,” Rolo replied looking inside the container.

Shiro looked down at Hunk with a slightly disappointed look. “Hunk, we’ll get going soon, but I think Rolo might have some useful information that could be helpful to us,” he said and Hunk looked up.

“Well, I don’t trust this guy as far as I can throw him,” Hunk replied and Lance snickered.

“Buddy, that kinda implies you trust him a good amount since you could most likely throw him far,” Lance said and Hunk sighed.

“Fine, I don’t trust him as far as Katie could throw him,” he said and ignored Katie’s indignant noise. “We ought to leave him with parts and just say, ‘Adiós, amigo.’,” Hunk said with crossed arms.

“Hunk, you don’t have to trust them, but give them a chance. They haven’t shown us any bad intents, so, please, at least give them the benefit of the doubt before judging,” Lance said and Hunk huffed.

“Hey, bud! Sorry, do you think you could hunt down a length of thermal pipe about yay long?” Rolo asked gesturing with his hands how long the pipe to be. Hunk grumbled but nodded.

“On the way,” he said walking off and Katie seemed to notice his discontent.

“I’ll help ya!” she called rushing over to Hunk who nodded thanks.

“ _ Allura, do mind coming to the bridge to watch out for hostiles while I go down and help the young paladins? _ ” Coran’s voice called out through the comms.

“You believe the Galra or someone is nearby?” Allura asked standing up.

“ _ You can never be too sure. Especially since I heard that these traders got into a bought with the Galra _ ,” Coran said and Allura nodded.

“Of course, I’ll be up soon,” she said and started off toward the castle.

“I’ll come with, two pairs of eyes are better than one,” he said and Allura nodded agreement.

“Who wants to bet that Shiro just wants to be alone with my sister?” Lance said quietly so that only Keith and Nyma heard and they both laughed at that. The lions looked up briefly and Black nodded, having a feeling her pilot did have feelings for the princess and that made Lance laugh. He then stood up with the lions walking with him over to Rolo. “So, is there any other fighters?” he asked leaning against the side.

“Well, there are those who’ve yet to be colonized and the lucky few, like us, that escaped somehow,” he said and Lance nodded.

“So, do you have communication with these resistances and other freedom fighters?” Lance and and Rolo nodded.

“We do. If you want, Nyma can take you in back and get you a comm that’ll be synced to ours and we can get you updates,” he said and Lance nodded agreement.

“That would be good,” he replied and he waved Nyma over to them.

“Follow me,” she said and both stared toward it, Lance turned to Keith and gave him a smile.

“I’ll be fine. You stay and keep an eye on him,” he jerked his head over to Rolo and Keith still hesitated. “Promise. I have Blue and Yellow to keep me safe,” he said and Keith finally nodded agreement.

“Alright. Promise you’ll comm if something's wrong,” he said and Lance nodded.

“I promise,” Lance said before he turned back and followed Nyma with Blue on his shoulders and Yellow at his side. Keith turned back to Rolo and glared at him along with the lions as they sat down onto a crate. Rolo saw the glares leveled at him and he flicked his eyes around before going back to work. The glares were getting on his nerves but he knew to ignore them to get to work on fixing the ship.

Lance looked around the inside of the huge ship and let off a whistle. “It’s bigger than it looks,” he said and Nyma nodded.

“Comes in handy,” she said and Lance nodded.

“So, the comms?” he asked and she led him through a couple halls and into the big hangar that had crates lining the walls with the center open in case of a ship came in. She then led him to one side and read the box side until she came to the one and pulled it out. She opened it up and inside were a bunch of comms. Some looked old and worn, others in good shape then the few that looked brand new. “Which do you suggest will keep off Galra radar?” Lance asked and Nyma picked up one of the newer looking ones with a gleam in her eye.

“What would you give for this?” she asked and Lance shrugged.

“What do you think it’s worth?” he asked and she smirked.

“Well, it’s only ok, maybe not even worth ten GAC,” she said and Lance made a confused hum in his throat.

“GAC?” he asked and Nyma looked up.

“You don’t know GAC?” she asked and Lance nodded.

“Well, to be fair, it has been 10,000 years since I’ve been in space talking to other aliens,” he said and she nodded.

“Of course. Well, it’s the currency used by the Empire,” she said and Lance made a understanding noise.

“Well, how about this, our payment for this comm is the fixing of your ship,” he said and Nyma hummed as she thought about it.

“Sure. And of course, as a gesture of good faith, we’ll give you a second one so one other can contact us. That way, we’re able to get whatever info we get to the other,” she said and Lance nodded. He reached out and grabbed the device from her outstretched hand and placed it on his hip at his belt. She then grabbed another one and he took it too.

“I hope that this works out,” he said and Nyma nodded.

“Me too. You really think you can defeat the Empire?” she asked and Lance nodded.

“I won’t let Haggar get away with anything else. I’ll stop her even if it’s my last breath if it means freeing Zarkon and the Universe from her control,” he said and Nyma’s eyes widened.

“Haggar?” she asked and Lance nodded.

“She has Zarkon under her control, making him think he wants power, when really, he doesn’t. If you can get that to these resistances and get them to watch Haggar, that would be good,” he said and Nyma nodded.

“Would the team be upset if we did something that was o protect ourselves even if it meant one of you got hurt?” she asked suddenly and Lance stiffened, both Blue and Yellow looked at Nyma with suspicion.

“Well, it depends on what it is I guess,” Lance said and Nyma looked sadly at him.

“Sorry,” she said and he looked at her curiously.

“What fo-” he got cut off as she pulled him forward and handcuffed him to a pipe. “Nyma, why?” he asked. And she smile sadly.

“We need the Galra off our backs, and to do that, to continue to get info, we’re going to need to hand you over to them,” she said sadly. “I hope we can still work together,” she said pulling out a syringe since she knows Altean’s were strong. Lance started pulling at the pipe and struck a foot out and knocked the thing away.

“I’m not going down without a fight,” he said and she nodded. She then swung out and hit his head, causing it to go backwards. While he was dazed she pulled the helmet off before he could get a warning out. Lance looked at Yellow and nodded. She bounded off going to the exit and he looked over at her. A smirk graced his face as he started shrinking, the cuffs clattering to the ground still hooked to the pipe. A growl worked it’s way through his throat as he looked at Nyma in his new form as a Yalmor. A mighty beast the was a cross of a bull and bear that lived in both water and on land. Nyma backed up surprised at his new form and Blue was beside him in a bigger form and Lance turned to her and shook his head. He then started shifting, planning on doing it a fair way.

He went into a crouch and suddenly the ship moved causing Lance to stumble. Nyma smirked as she went forward, syringe in hand again and jabbed it into his arm and he snarled. He whacked it out, only half of it goin into his neck and Nyma watched as it went to the ground and broke finally. The serum that was inside the syringe was taking effect, his movements were sluggish and Nyma managed to get him onto the ground and redid the cuffs. “Sorry, Lance. No hard feelings, we want to help you and to do that, we can’t be wanted by the Empire,” she said walking up to the bridge were Rolo was flying the ship.

**XXX**

Rolo looked down at his wrist and smiled, closing the container even though Hunk hadn’t returned yet with the piece he asked for. “I think it’s time for a test flight,” Rolo said and Keith shared a look with the lions.

“Not until Lance comes out,” Keith said and Rolo looked around.

“I’ll go check on them,” Rolo then left into the ship and Yellow came barreling out of the ship right as it lifted off the ground. Keith’s eyes widened as he ran to the ship but got pushed back as it took off.

“No!” he shouted.  _ My pilot! _ A voice rang in Keith’s head and he looked around and noticed Red looking at him.  _ Blue needs out help. Contact the others and get them down here! _ She said and Keith nodded tapping his helmet. “Guys!” he shouted and he heard noises of surprise.

“ _ What is it? _ ” Shiro asked.

“They have Lance and Blue! They tricked us!” Keith shouted as Red and the other lions spread out and grew to their normal sizes. “Hurry down here and let’s get them back!” he said before flying off as Red followed Blue’s coordinates. Soon the others were by them and they flew after the ship with Lance and Blue on it.

“ _ I knew it. We shouldn’t have trusted them. I told you guys, _ ” Hunk said as they flew.

“We got it, Hunk! And Lance said to be cautious,” Keith snapped.

“ _ Why was Lance in their ship? _ ” Shiro asked.

“Lance was talking to Rolo, asking about other fighters when he suggested Nyma take him in the ship to get some comms that wouldn’t be tracked by the Galra so they could give us info. So he, Blue and Yellow went inside. A while later, Rolo decides to go into the ship and Yellow comes out right as it took off,” Keith said and he heard Shiro humm.

“ _ Well, we’ll get the full story on why they did this once we get them _ ,” Shiro said and Hunk made a sound of disagreement to that. They continued flying in silence as they finally caught up to the ship and started trying to disable it. The ship started firing at them and they all dodged the attacks and shot the guns down. With the guns down, the ship went into an asteroid belt and they looked at it. “ _ We can’t fit in there _ ,” Shiro said and Hunk made a sound.

“ _ I have an idea! _ ” he shouted and proceeded to run Yellow into an asteroid. The giant rock moved and hit another one but soon stopped after that.   
“ _ Keith, you’re the only one fast enough and small enough to fit. Flush them out _ ,” Shiro said and Keith nodded, urging Red on and the two went into the belt, bounding after the ship. Soon the ship comes into view and Keith glares at it as he has Red going to it. Red pushes off the asteroid and lands on the ship, causing it to fly out of the belt. Red digs her claws into the metal and activates her thrusters, pulling them into a stop and the other lions come to them and go to the ship's windows.

Red lets go and Black grabs the ship, they all fly back to the moon the castle waited on. They all landed on the moon and Keith ran out of Red and went to the ship, intent on getting Lance and Blue out of there. The ship door opened and the two stumbled out and Keith went into the ship, confident the others would deal with the traders themselves. “Lance? Lance, where are you!?” Keith shouted out as he went through the big ship.

“K-keith?” a voice called out and Keith started off in that direction with Red behind him with her clanking bounds.

“I’m coming Lance. I’ll get you and Blue out of here!” he shouted and he soon came into a hall that had pipes lining it. One pipe had cuffs and in those cuffs was a lucid Lance leaning against the wall with a dazed look. Blue was at Lance’s side and looked up at them. “What happened?” he asked as he worked on the cuffs.

“We started talking about prices then the Empire…....then she asked about if they had to do something that woulda hurt us if it meant they were safe…….said it depended then we got into a fight…...she put some low quality sedative in me but only got about half in before I…..hit it away…….She said something about needing the Galra off their tails if we wanted them to get us info,” he said slowly and Keith nodded.

He could understand their reasoning, but he still didn’t like that they did it. “Anything hurt?” he asked and Lance shook his head.

“Beside’s my pride, no,” he answered with a small chuckle and a smile made its way to Keith’s lips.

“So she caught you off guard?” he asked and Lance nodded as the cuffs fell off. Keith pulled Lance up and they started walking down the hall, Blue and Red walking side by side with Blue wearing Lance’s helmet.

“Yeah, after I told her my answer, she pulled me forward and pulled the cuffs out…...Got out of them……but the ship shook causing me to be off balanced…….it allowed her an advantage…..the rest is history,” he replied, head hanging down and Keith hummed.

“Did she say why she took you?” he asked and Lance shook his head.

“There might be a bounty on us,” he said and Keith nodded. They soon exited the ship and the others crowded around. Lance waved them off as Keith lead them to the ship. “I’m fine,” he called out, “just drowsy,” he said turned slightly to the group. “Don’t get mad, they wanted to get the Galra off their tails so they could get us info without trouble,” he said and the traders nodded as the team looked at them.

“We are sorry. We want to help but we need the Galra to stop hunting us for that. Please, we want to help,” Rolo said and Allura looked at the other paladins.

“Lance seems to have forgiven them,” Shiro said and Allura nodded.

“Very well, we can continue this alliance. But do you promise not to do anything like this again without telling us? If you do, I won’t hesitate to find you and make you regret that decision,” Allura said and the traders nodded. Allura then turned and walked off into the castle with Yellow leading her to the room Lance and Keith were in. Shiro turned to the traders with a small smile.

“Glad you’ll help us. Allura won’t go back on her word, but I trust that this will help,” he said and the traders nodded agreement. “Not to mention, she might make you through the highest possible training level that fully grown Altean guards had trouble with,” he said and the two looked confused.

“That would be all?” Nyma asked and Shiro shook his head.

“That’s the minimum she’d do to you, but it would still make you feel like death afterwards, she’s almost as bad as Galra if she wants you to be fit. But, if you do cross us without warning, you will have me and the other paladins to worry about if you hurt one of us. Trust that,” he said and the two nodded.

“Of course,” Rolo said and Shiro nodded.

“Since your ship is now damaged, you’ll have to wait for someone else to come get you. We really need to get going if we wish to help a friend,” he said and the traders nodded.

“Good luck,” Nyma said and Shiro nodded. “Would you mind telling Lance I’m sorry?” she asked and Shiro gave a nod and she smiled thankful.

“Good luck to you too. Hopefully we’ll hear from each other again,” he said before turning with the other paladins and headed off to the castle, the lions walking ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so here’s the next chap!! Booyah!! Basically on time even though I had the SAT. IDK why I’m not drained. Maybe its because I actually really wanted to get this out. Who knows, I don’t. Until next time!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, here’s the next chap!! Things have been kinda weird for me here. Hopefully it’ll get better, or at least less weird. Ok, back to the story!

Lance and Keith leaned against the wall of the room on Lance’s bed talking about anything and everything but also nothing. Lance is talking about something his older siblings did when the door opened to allow Allura in. They saw Yellow with her and she left as Allura entered the room She smiled as she heard the sentence and waved her hand for him to continue. He smiled at her and continued his story of how James, Layla and him went on a hoverbike and to the ocean because his parents were ignoring them saying she was needed at her job.

“Mama was so furious when we returned that evening. She said everyone was worried since no one knew where we had gone. She lectured and scolded us before sending us to our rooms, sayin we were grounded for the time being. But it was worth it. The waves were amazing and we found lots of seashells and seaglass,” he finished and Keith and Allura smiled at him.

“This James and Layla, you’re close to them?” Allura asked and Lance nodded.

“Ya. They helped me get caught up with all the other kids but also made sure I had a childhood,” Lance said and Allura smiled.

“They sound wonderful,” she replied and Lance smiled at her. Their earrings beeped then and Coran’s voice came through.

“ _ Prince, Princess. Can you send Keith to the Healing Chamber’s Med Bay? I think I’ve made a formula that will allow him to change between his forms! _ ” Coran said cheerily and the siblings smiled at Coran’s enthusiasm.

“Alright. We will,” Allura said before turning to Keith. “Coran thinks he has a formula that will work. Do you know where the Med Bay is?” she asked and Keith nodded.

“I’ll see you later, Lance,” Keith said squeezing Lance’s hand before getting up off the bed and walked out of the room with Red at his side.

“Can I?” Lance asked gesturing to her hair and Allura nodded turning. She felt him run his fingers through her thick locks before separating them into section. His fingers were deft and delicate, even though he was still sedated slightly, as he moved her hair around twisting and knotting it. They sit in comfortable silence then, just happy to be reunited and calm for once with nothing happening.

**XXX**

“Sire, the Paladins are going to the Balmera. Shall I create a robeast to go and defeat them?” Haggar asked bowing to Zarkon before straightening up.

“Yes. Send them a greeting from the Empire. And send something that will be able to sneak aboard the Castle and put the spell onto him,” Zarkon said and Haggar nodded.

“I’ll have an android sneak aboard to free Sendak or Haxus who should still be on board,” she said and Zarkon nodded.

“Vrepit sa,” he said.

“Vrepit sa,” she replied before walking out of the room.

**XXX**

Allura and Lance arrived at the Med Bay and saw Coran standing by a distraught half breed Galra. Red purred as she nuzzled his legs and Lance stared wide eyed. “Keith?” he called and the galra turned. His eyes were golden but had his purple irises still but faded. His ears were cat like and tall, reaching just an inch or so under the top of his head and were very furry. A puffy but smooth tail moved behind him as he looked at them.his fingers had claws that were shorter than the typical Galra but longer than a human's. All over him was short purple fur and his hair had a purple tint to it.

“Wow,” both Lance and Allura said staring in awe at Keith. “So it worked?” Lance asked and Coran nodded as he went toward Keith.

“Yes. Unfortunately though, young Keith here will be stuck for one or so of your Earth days as his body has been suppressing this transformation for years. The whole full transformation happens at ten when they finally start getting some control over them changing. Until they reach ten, random little things would pop up, like just the ears or maybe one's eyes would change,” Coran explained and Lance nodded. Lance stood in front of Keith who backed up slightly. A frown graced Lance’s face at that and he reached forward, placing his hand behind Keith’s ear before scratching.

Keith looked startled and worried before his face relaxed, eyes fluttering closed as Lance scratched behind his ears. A purr worked its way from Keith and Lance smiled as Keith’s eyes flew open and he jerked from Lance. “That was cute,” he said with a smile and Keith scowled while Red and Blue agreed that the purr was cute. Lance’s grin grew at hearing that and he went over to Keith and  hugged him. “Everything will be fine. They will understand,” he said and both Allura and Coran nodded agreement. Coran came forward and placed a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder while Allura gave a strained smile. Lance knew that it would take Allura a little to get used to seeing Keith in Galra form but knew she’d get used to it fast.

“Just let them hear the purr and they’ll be ok with it!” Coran said with a smile and Lance chuckled as Keith scowled.

“It could work,” Lance said and Keith’s scowl deepened.

“Let’s get back to the bridge. We should be getting close to the Balmera,” Allura said and they all nodded. Red batted at Keith’s legs and Lance smiled, bending down and picked Red up before depositing her in Keith’s arms. Red purred before climbing to settle her head on his shoulder closest to Lance. Both she and Blue started to converse which made Lance chuckle as they started toward the bridge with Allura and Coran in front talking.

They soon arrive on the bridge and in the distance was the Balmera as Coran told what happened while they were there. When both Allura and Lance heard that the Balmera was dying and all of its crystals being plundered, they frowned. For they once saw the Balmera in all its beauty and hearing it in such a state was heartbreaking. “Let’s call up the others to tell them.”

Soon, everyone came into the bridge and startled at seeing Keith in Galra form. At first, they didn’t recognize him until Lance hugged him from behind and soon they relaxed while Katie and Hunk looked at him curiously.

Everyone looked out the bridge windows at the Balmera as the castle went closer to it. “We’ll be arriving at the Belmera soon. Liberating these Balmerans from Zarkon’s grasp will not be easy,” Allura said to everyone gathered.

“So, what’s the plan? We go in there and just-” Lance began before smirking, planning on doing something silly to lessen the tension, “pow, pow, pow!” he shouted out the bad sound effects while moving his arms like they were guns. “And free the prisoners?” he asked and both Allura and Hunk smiled at him while Coran had a fond look on his face.

“What was that?” Keith asked.

“Laser guns,” Lance replied tightening his hold causing Keith to huff.

“No, Lance, I think you mean--” Hunk said before getting into a stance, “bejow, bejow, bejow!” he yelled out before making a powering up sound moving his hands up like a cannon before settling them in front of him rim rod straight. “Pow!” he yelled out and a small smile worked onto both Keith’s and Lance’s face.

“That sounded like fireworks slightly,” Lance said.

“Technically, they’re more like-- ba-choo, ba-choo, ba-choo!” Katie started, making like her hands were handguns while making her sounds recoiling back.

“Alright, enough with the bad sound effects,” Shiro called, a full fledged grin on his face. He then crossed his arms as he smirked. “Besides, it’s more like--” he held his arm out straight like he was a cop, “blam, blam, blam!” he shouted himself, ending up on one knee.

“What?” Keith demanded.

“You’re crazy. No way,” Lance called.

“Wrong,” Hunk stated with Keith and Lance at once while Katie shook her head in disagreement.

Allura stomped her foot down, fists clenched even though it was obvious she was fighting to keep a smile off her face. “Paladins, focus,” she said.

“Alright,” Lance called raising his hands up in mock surrender. “We’ll finish this later. For now, a plan. We can’t risk shooting since the Balmera is alive,” Lance said and Hunk nodded agreement.

“From what we’ve seen, it doesn’t look very good,” Hunk added as they looked at an image of the Balmera as it went to a heat signature one that showed that it’s not well.

“Yes, it’s an atrocity what the Galra have been doing to this grand beast,” Coran said at his council. “Stealing its crystals, its very life force, without ever performing the energy rejuvenation ceremonies to heal it,” Coran said pulling up a picture of the surface and then a drawing of the ceremony in question.

“After seeing Shay’s people enslaved, it made me realize how bad Zarkon really is. And we’re the only ones who can stop him,” Hunk continued and Lance nodded agreement.

“Ok, so we don’t go into the tunnels guns blazing,” Shiro said before turning to everyone. “Plan B. We figure out how to draw the Galra up to the surface and battle them there.”

I know,” Hunk said and everyone looked over to him. “If we attack all of this big mining stuff on the surface, the Galra troops will have to come out and defend it. Then we beat them up, head down to the tunnels, Voltron saves the day,” Hunk said and Lance looked at Keith who nodded, ears flicking and wings tense before flickering and brushing against Lance’s wings.

“How will we know how many are left in the tunnels?” Keith asked, his arms crossed as he looked at the hologram.

“We can track the Galra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life Indicator Point Technology,” Allura said and Katie went forward moving her glasses slightly even though she didn’t need them.

“Oh, BLIP tech!” she called excitedly, wings puffing up behind her, and Lance chuckled softly. Allura stared at Katie confused and she seemed to feel Allura’s gaze and shifted her gaze to Lance’s sister. “It’s an acronym,” she explained with uncertainty. Allura raised an eyebrow at that before looking back to the hologram of the device.

“One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop sensors into the shafts on each side,” Allura said moving her hand so that the hologram device floated toward the planet to demonstrate what she planned. “Then we’ll be able to see where the Galra and the Balmerans are. There are already sensors built into your suits,” she said and Katie looked at Allura then the others.

“I can do it. I just modified Green with the invisible maze’s cloaking ability,” Katie said scratching Green’s head. “I should be able to fly in unnoticed,” she finished and both Allura and Coran nodded.

“Good job,” Lance said as Coran typed and soon an image came up.

“That’s their main power generator,” Coran turned toward them as the image became large and clear. “If you take that down, it will severely weaken their defences.”

“We’ll stay in cloud cover and give tactical support,” Allura said shrinking the Balmera tunnel map.

“The Castle’s defences were weakened a good deal from Sendak’s crystal even though it wasn’t plugged in long. So we unfortunately won’t be much help,” Allura explained pulling up a hologram of the castle quickly before putting it down again once she finished.

“I’ll take out the power generator. Keith, Lance, Hunk, you take out these big mining rigs around the area,” Shiro said.

“Yeah! Ok, let’s do this! Let’s go kick some bad guy butts!” Hunk shouted and they all changed into their armors before going to their lions. The lions then flew out and they went to the surface. Once they make it through the cloud cover the Galra start shooting at them and they dodged all the shots. Soon, the giant generator shot tri-petal lasers at them.

“ _ This is it. Get your heads in the game. Remember, the Balmera is a living creature, _ ” Shiro called over the comms as they flew closer to the generator. “ _ Make sure you pinpoint only the Galra installations and not its surface _ ,” he finished and they split up.

“ _ Initiating cloak _ ,” Katie called out and soon Green blinked from existence and went across the Balmera dropping the BLIP tech.

“ _ Alright team. Let’s do this! _ ” Shiro called and everyone nodded, flying off to where they were supposed to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this bein short. It just, I’m having trouble, so updates will most likely be sporadic from here on out. Please be patient with me ok? I promise I’ll try updating once a month, if I’m lucky, twice. But, we’ll see. I most likely will be working on other stories that have been waiting to be worked on. Ok, bye. Luv ya peps! <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for bein patient with me. Just another warnin, updates will be sporadic still. But I will try to update once a month. Ok, here’s the story.

“ _ All sensors are in place _ ,” Katie called as Shiro flew from the power base as it exploded. Keith dodged lasers and bolts. A large tower continued to shoot at him and he stopped at its base and Red opened her mouth, letting fire blow out and melt the towers center.

“ _ Whoa! Did you guys see that? I have fire power! _ ” Keith called excitedly and Lance chuckled.

“The Red lions element is fire, so this shouldn’t surprise you,” Lance replied and the tower collapsed down before tilting.

“ _ Oh, no _ ,” Keith called and Lance flew Blue to the base and froze ice onto it before it fell too far, encasing the whole thing in ice.

“ _ Great job, team, _ ” Shiro called as they sat on top of the frozen laser.

“ _ Where are all the troops? They’re not coming to the surface _ ,” Keith asked looking to the surface toward the shafts and everyone hummed agreement.

“ _ Yeah, I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys down in the mines, _ ” Hunk agreed.

“ _ We’ve located a hangar full of Galra fighters just below the surface, _ ” Allura called.

“Where is it, Pidge?” Lance asked as he pulled up his own map. “Me and Keith can take it down,” Lance continued.

“ _ It’s right there _ ,” she called and a arrow popped up at the hangar’s location.

“ _ They may be tryin to lure us down, but we don’t have a choice if we want to save the Balmera _ ,” Shiro said.

“We’ll just split up then,” Lance called with a smile.

“ _ Hunk, head to he prison to rescue Shay and the other Balmerans. Katie and I will track down the Galra soldiers, _ ” Shiro called.

“ _ Yes, sir _ ,” Keith called.

“Ten-four,” Lance called.

“ _ Roger, _ ” Katie yelled.

“ _ Let’s do this! _ ” Hunk yelled as they all flew off to their destinations. The Red and Blue lion landed in a shaft together. They then went into the lion’s speeders and sped to the hangar that Allura talked about. Lance slowed down as they neared and Keith followed suite. They slide down a small hill and looked down into the hangar. They both furrowed their brows in confusion when they only saw a few soldiers.

“The entire hangar’s only being guarded by a few sentries,” Keith said and Lance nodded. “Let’s go,” he said going forward, pulling his bayard out.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Lance called grabbing onto Keith’s outstretched wings, pulling him back. “Cool your jets, Keith!” Lance said and Keith scowled at him with a slight pout on his lips. “Remember what Coran said, this Balmera is a living creature that’s sensitive,” he said and Keith looked guilty at that.

“Oh, yeah,” he replied and Lance nodded.

“Yeah, so we can’t go in guns blazing and blow things up like a psycho,” he explained and Keith placed a hand on his chin thinking.

“You’ve got an idea?” he asked and Lance looked around the bay and his wings perked up in excitement with what he came up with.

“I do. We sneak across that beam into the control room and shut the bay doors,” Lance said pointing then pointed to the doors. “That’ll trap the ships in,” he finished.

“That…… actually is a good idea,” Keith admitted and Lance looked questionably at Keith.

“What? You thought I’d come up with a bad idea?” he asked and Keith shook his head.

“Not at all,” he said hastily and Lance looked at him with a disbelieving look.

“Let’s go,” he said and they made their way to the beam before Lance held a hand up. He then changed into a duck and started walking across the beam and looked back at Keith. Keith nodded and quickly changed into a phoenix and walked across. Lance waited until Keith was right behind him before walking again. They soon arrived across and entered a shaft after changing back. “No, no. It’s over here,” Lance called softly as Keith tried continuing forward.

“I know what I’m doing,” Keith whispered back cutting a circle in the metal. Lance then positioned himself and jumped down onto the circle causing it to fall down and crush the sentry beneath it. Lance landed in a crouch. He then shuffled to the side and allowed Keith to come down.

“Keep an eye out for guards while I look for the way to close the doors,” Lance said and Keith nodded, running over to the windows and watching the sentries move about. He read through the things and smiled. “Come over here,” he called and Keith went over. “Place your hand there,” he said and Keith did as told and placed it over the symbol. The doors then slid shut and both Lance and Keith shared a look.

**XXX**

Hunk followed the path through the Balmera and soon arrived at the prison area. The sentries started shooting at him and he jumped from the speeder and hid behind it. He pulled his bayard out and it changed into the familiar gun. He then shot down the sentries and stepped out from his hiding place. “That was way too easy. I definitely don’t have a good feeling about this,” he muttered then tapped his comm. “Guys, I have a bad feeling about this. Keep alert,” he said.

“ _ Aye, aye, captain, _ ” Lance called.

“ _ Affirmative, _ ” Katie called.

“ _ Will do _ ,” Shiro agreed. Hunk then bent down and grabbed one of the sentries hands on the ground and placed it on the scanner. The door disappeared and Hunk looked around again before running into the hall. He followed down the hall and hid behind a wall as a patrol went by. He looked down a different hall as another patrol went down and he ran to where he saw Shay’s family. He placed the hand on the scanner and the cell opened.

“Hunk, you have returned,” Shay’s dad said and Hunk nodded as they all stood up. Hunk gripped the hand offered with a smile.

“I promised I’d be back. We’re here to help. Where’s Shay?” he asked and they heard a sigh and turned to see Rax standing near the back with a mix of grief and anger on his face.

“Our life may not have been perfect, but our family was whole. Your arrival has left us imprisoned and torn apart. As soon as your attack started, they took her away to the core of the Balmera. For all we know, she could be gone for good,” all Hunk could do was stare in shock at that.

“ _ Paladins, are you there? The Galra troops are moving down the tunnels. It looks like they’re going down toward the center _ ,” Allura called.

“They must be headed to the core. That’s where they’re holding Shay,” Hunk called running from the cell leaving behind Shay’s family.

“ _ They’re drawing us into an ambush, but we don’t have a choice if we want to save Shay _ ,” Shiro started as he sped down the tunnels. “ _ We have to follow. Lance, Keith, get to the core. I think we’re going to need everyone together to get through this firefight, _ ” Shiro finished.

**XXX**

“What if that’s what they want?” Lance asked. “They could very well have planned this,” he argued as they stood up. Keith slashed through the control panel and they ran from the room. Lance then shot the scanner, preventing them from getting in immediately and fixing the control panel.

**XXX**

Katie gasped as she stopped her speeder. “ _ You’re in an area where the tunnels are too narrow for your speeder, _ ” Allura called.

“I noticed,” Katie called. “Proceeding on foot,” she climbed through the gap and heard Lance reply of it possibly being planned when she heard footsteps. “There’s someone here,” she called softly.

“ _ Looking into it, _ ” Allura called and the footsteps got progressively louder. She pulled her bayard out and waited for Allura to respond. “ _ Those are Balmerans Katie, _ ” she finally called and Katie stepped out from her hiding spot with a sigh. She raised a hand in greeting and soon the planet started shaking. The three Balmeran kids started running and one fell to the ground.

Two gasped as they saw a rock above the fallen kid shake. Katie grunted as she lunged forward with powerful flaps from her wings. She grabbed onto the kid and got them to safety. “Don’t worry,” she said. “ _ Hey, team, be careful. The Balmera is very unstable _ ,” she warned.

“ _ Got it, _ ” Lance replied.

“ _ Lance, you may be correct about this. I want you and Pidge to go back to your Lions as backup, _ ” Shiro called.

**XXX**

“On it,” Lance called once they arrived at a intersection. They looked down it and saw guards. They started shooting at them as they dodged out of the way.

“Their shooting is destroying the Balmera. We gotta do something,” Keith called gruffly from the opposite side of Lance.

“Well, I can’t shoot back without getting visual or I could make this worse,” Lance called before looking back down the hall. The Balmera groaned as Lance hurriedly looked down for an alternate plan. The edge of a beam caught his eye and he quickly followed it over to where Keith kneeled in front of a ladder. A smirk made it’s way onto his face as he pointed to it then up, then toward the guards and Keith tilted his head in confusion.

“Oh,” he said when Red pressed what Lance had in mind from Blue and Keith smiled back. He went up the ladder quickly.

As Keith went down the ledge toward the sentries, Lance jumped out and did a little dance. “Nana, nana, boo, boo!” he taunted doing the wave before pulling his shield out and hid behind it. The shots hit the shield with power, causing Lance to grunt slightly. The shots stopped and Lance looked up in time to see Keith throw his sword into the last sentries chest. “Good luck,” Lance called before running down the hall back toward his lion.

“ _ I’m with Green _ ,” Katie called.

“Almost back to Blue. had some trouble with sentries,” Lance said as he got into his speeder and sped down the hall toward Blue.

“ _ What happened? _ ” Shiro asked.

“Sentries were in a hall, but we got them,” Lance said and he soon arrived at Blue.

**XXX**

“Shay!” Hunk yelled and flew up to her. He quickly undid the bonds on her and she started falling but he caught her and gently set her down on the ground.

“Where are the Galra? If this is an ambush, they should be here waiting for us,” Shiro called as he entered the core with Keith running in from the opposite side and they heard a swallow.

“ _ Get out! _ ” Lance yelled through the comms as Shay struggled with gag.

“ _ They’re coming down for the lions and are most likely planning on trapping you in there! _ ” Katie called. They all turned toward a door and rushed to it. The doors closed right as Keith got to it.

“It’s a trap,” Keith called.

“The Galra, they gained knowledge that you would return to the Balmera,” Shay said once she got the gag off.

“How?” Hunk asked.

“I know not. But they set this trap just for you. I was the bait. But it seems you were lucky enough to keep two from here,” Shay explained.

“Who could have possibly known that we were heading here to save Shay?” Shiro asked.

“Rolo! Those liars must have told Zarkon,” Hunk said.

“ _ Maybe not, _ ” Lance called and they heard a grunt. “ _ They may have told a commander they had me and Blue captive and they traced it from there, because, they could trace comms that aren’t private. Or, someone on this base told Zarkon or some commander about a Paladin coming to this Balmera to get a crystal and heard about you saying we’d save them _ ,” he explained and both Shiro and Keith nodded agreement, knowing either could have happened.

“It would make sense,” Shiro agreed and another grunt was heard. “Lance, Katie, what’s happening?” he asked

“ _ We’re under attack. The castle is surrounded and taking heavy fire while Katie and I are trying to prevent the lions from bein taken, _ ” Lance explained and they heard another grunt then shout.

**XXX**

Lance went into a spiral to dodge fire and shot at the ships going down to the shafts. “ _ Lance, Katie, do either copy? There’s a battle cruiser locked onto us _ ,” Allura called and Lance gasped. “ _ If it fires with its ion cannon, I don’t know if we can survive _ ,” she finished and Lance grit his teeth.

“I won’t let that happen,” Lance called. “Katie, think you can handle this?” he called.

“ _ Go help your sister, Lance. Shay’s getting help for us, _ ” Keith called.

“ _ Yeah, I can handle this for a little while, _ ” Katie called and Lance turned Blue around to the castleship.

“Wait, can’t Shiro just cut through the door?” Lance asked and he heard a faint ‘well?’.

“ _ He’s not sure _ ,” Hunk replied.

“Can he not sure faster? More ships are coming from the cruiser!” Lance called as he blasted through the atmosphere and started shooting at the ships. They started to turn fire onto him. He grunted as he dodged them and blasted more ships. He got a majority to follow him to the planet and heard something. “Aaahhh!” he yelled out in pain as the lasers hit Blue, sending her spinning and making his head slam forward into the console.

“ _ Lance! Are you alright!? _ ” Keith asked and Lance groaned.

“Define, alright?” he groaned out. He moved Blue around the ships as the other paladins flew from the shafts, taking down any ships in their way.

“ _ Paladins, hurry! Five more tics and we’re finished! _ ” Allura called.

“Okay, team, let’s form Voltron!” Shiro called and they went into formation. Shiro then had Voltron fly to the ship, pushing it up and away from the castleship.

_ “Fire! _ ” Allura called once the ion cannon stopped and Voltron flew out of the way. The laser hit the cruiser, slashing through everything before finally going through the otherside. The ship then exploded, destroying everything else.

“Yes!” Lance shouted as they landed on the Balmera with the castleship behind them.

“ _ Something's breaking through the atmosphere! _ ” Coran yelled and they looked up in time to see a big container like on Arus break through with red streaks. It crashed into the surface causing dust to fly up thickly.

“ _ What is that? _ ” Katie asked.

“ _ Trouble, _ ” Shiro called thinking of the last one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK! SO HERE’S THE NEXT CHAP! Hopefully, i’ll be able to update again soon. But we’ll see. Might not be until next month.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so here’s chap 18 finally! WHOA! Ya, its prob been longer than a month, sorry. Hope you enjoy this as an apology for waitin maybe like 2 months before updating. Also, I’m working on a new story again, its most likely gonna be a one shot of basically double agent Lance. We’ll see, still not fully sure but leanin to oneshot. So I’ll be workin on that before goin back to the other three stories. Luv ya!  
> Contact me through these:  
> Tumblr: paladinwilla  
> Twitter: Paladin Willa

**** “ _ Trouble _ ,” Shiro said as the container landed.

“ _ Oh no, _ ” Katie groaned out.

“ _ Please tell me there’s not a giant monster in there, _ ” Hunk asked with a slight whine in his voice at the thought of fighting another robeast. “ _ Please tell me it’s empty! Or full of space candy. One of those two. Either is fine, _ ” Hunk continued.

“I don’t think it’s a piñata, Hunk. Even though I wish you were right, your probably not,” Lance answered and Hunk pouted.

“ _ If it’s the same kind of monster that attacked us on Arus, we already know how to beat it _ ,” Keith said and a sound of protest left Lance’s mouth.

“I don’t think Haggar would make the same monster twice. From what I can gather, she probably transformed the former champion into that robeast. So this one being the same as him would be improbable,” Lance said.

“ _ I agree with Lance. To be safe though, form sword! _ ” Shiro shouted and Keith did so. “ _ Hold your ground _ ,” he shouted as Katie formed the shield as a precaution. Soon, the metal of the case fell down revealing a tall monster with long, octopus like arms with circles going down it like those on gun barrels. Its legs were similar in style. Its eyes soon lit up when a rode came up and on the chest, one such gun barrel lit up green before firing at them. The shield stopped the blast but they were pushed backward.

“ _ It’s not candy! _ ” Hunk shouted.

“And since it’s not the same monster we’ll have to figure out how to take it down,” Lance shouted as they moved from the blast and the monster soon stopped the laser.

“ _ We need to draw its fire away from the Balmera’s surface! _ ” Shiro shouted as they flew to the monster and Keith drew the sword back as the dodged other laser beams before it flew up into the sky. It then shot another beam at them and Katie moved the shield to stop it from hitting them and the Balmera. They all groaned in pain before Shiro was able to get them out of the beam.

They flew away as the beam followed them around the surface before getting to the beast's side. Keith then swung the sword but it dodged underneath the blade and a laser came from one of the beasts eye’s, hitting them in the side causing them to fall down. They flew away and the best shot at them and Katie were able to stop it again. “We can’t hold out!” Lance shouted.

“ _ My lion is weakening! _ ” Katie shouted in fright. “ _ If the shield sustains structural damage, we’re done for! _ ” she shouted.

“ _ They’re both right! _ ” Keith shouted and Lance felt Blue slipping. “ _ Lance! _ ” Keith shouted and Lance grunted.

“Blue’s slipping!” he shouted and soon Voltron fell backward, the shield breaking apart.

“ _ Okay, Team Voltron, disband! _ ” Shiro shouted and they were soon apart. “ _ Evasive maneuvers! It can’t shoot us all at once! _ ” he shouted as they flew in different directions. Soon they heard a powering up and lots of lasers were flying to them from the monster's arms.

“Apparently it can!” Lance shouted.

“ _ Ok, it can do that too _ ,” Shiro conceded as they flew around dodging the lasers. Lance looked at his panel when it beeped and saw that the castle was coming down and his eyes widened. It then hit the beast with force making it stop shooting and get knocked over slightly.

“ _ Where does Zarkon get these beasts from? And how do they keep finding us? _ ” Allura asked.

“Well, he has Haggar who loves her experiments,” Lance started, “and since they did this trap for us, its safe to assume that once she finished this robeast she sent it to the last location we were,” he reasoned.

“ _ Maybe, _ ” she agreed.

“ _ Princess, the particle barrier won’t sustain much longer, _ ” Coran informed. “ _ It’s still not at full strength after the blast from the Galra ship, _ ” Coran finished.

“ _ Keith, try to draw its fire! _ ” Shiro called out. “ _ I’m coming in from above! _ ” he then flew Black up as Keith flew in toward the beast and shot at it with his fire power. The beast starts shooting at Keith as Shiro flies down. One of its eyes then moved to the back and shots at Shiro, causing him to grunt as he moves Black out of the way.

“We need to find it’s blindspot,” Lance shouted getting it to follow him.

“ _ I don’t think is  _ has _ a blind spot. It has like a thousand eyes _ ,” Katie said.

“True,” Lance replied.

“ _ Laser eyes! Laser eyes! _ ” Hunk shouted and the three flew in opposite directions screaming.

“ _ What do we do? Fighting this thing is like fighting an entire fleet at once! _ ” Katie yelled dodging the lasers and Keith flew up next to her.

“ _ I think we’ve got to aim for those laser eyes and take them out _ ,” he suggested.

“ _ We’ll cover you from up here! _ ” Allura called out as the castleship shot its defenses at the robeast. The robeast then shot everything at the castle causing it to shake.

“ _ PRINCESS, THE SHIP IS BEING TORN APART! _ ” Coran’s voice shrieked over the comms.

“Move! Get out of here and we’ll distract it!” Lance shouted.

“ _ Get out of its range! _ ” Shiro replied agreeing.

“ _ We will not abandon you! _ ” Allura yelled.

“ _ You’re not abandoning us, _ ” Shiro explained.

“Ya! We also need to pull back to come up with a plan,” Lance called.

“ _ Lions, to the mine shafts! It’s the only place the monster can’t get us, _ ” Shiro said looking to the side.

“ _ Roger! _ ” Katie called heading toward a shaft.

“ _ Heading into orbit _ ,” Allura called and the castle started going up. Everyone soon followed suite and went into different mine shafts. Hunk, Keith, and Shiro were all in one shaft while Pidge and Lance were in another one.

“What is happening?” Shay asked.

“There’s a monster up there that Zarkon sent to destroy us,” Keith explained.

“A monster? Will Zarkon’s savagery never abate?” Shay asked. “Perhaps our people were never meant to be free,” she said and her father pulled her into a hug.

“Shay, don’t give up. Zarkon’s power grows with every planet he conquers,” Hunk said, “but he’s weakened by every being that fights back.”

“Fight back against a monster like that?” Shay asked. “How?”

“I don’t know, but we can beat it,” Hunk continued. “Tell her, Keith.”

“Can we?” Keith asked.

“Yes, we can! This is our first mission and we’re not going to fail,” Shiro said looking at the two before turning to the Balmerans. “We can beat it. We just need some time to come up with a plan.”

“See? Told you we can. Thanks, Shiro,” Hunk said and everyone soon gasped as the planet shook. Keith grunted as he stumbled forward and braced onto Hunk. all around a moaning could be heard from the Balmera. “Did you guys feel that over there?” Hunk called over the comms.

Lance turned to Katie who nodded that she was fine before facing forward. “Yeah, we feel it,” he answered as the ground slowly stopped shaking. A moaning resounded and Katie looked around.

“It’s that sound again. What is that?” she asked.

“It’s probably from the Balmera since it’s crumbling beneath our feet,” Lance pointed to the side and there on the ground was a crack slowly growing in size.

“ _ Coran, Allura, are you there? _ ” Shiro asked.

“ _ Shiro, we’re here, _ ” Allura called back.

“ _ The Balmera- _ ” he started only to be cut off.

“ _ We already know _ ,” Coran called out. “ _ Our scanners are showing the life energy draining from the Balmera, _ ” he explained. Katie then pulled up a hologram of the heat signature of the Balmera.

“How does that happen?” she asked looking at it with Lance. Lance raised his hand and put it near the image.

“ _ Removing the crystals from a Balmera is like removing a vital part of the mighty beast _ ,” Coran explained. “ _ The Balmera needs time to regenerate itself to stay healthy, but the Galra’s greed may have cost this noble Balmera its life, _ ” he finished.

“ _ So, what’s going to happen? _ ” Hunk asked.

“ _ It’s core will collapse, destabilizing the entire skeletal structure. Anything or anyone remaining on the Balmera at that point will be crushed into dust _ ,” he informed and Shiro looked grimly at the hologram.

“How long before it’s core collapses?” Shiro asked.

“ _ Probably a matter of hours, _ ” Coran informed and Shiro shared a look with Hunk and Keith. “ _ The mighty organism willingly gives itself to all, but not all returns its kindness _ ,” he continued.

“ _ Then our time is short. We’ll evacuate the planet, _ ” Allura called. “ _ We need to get all the Balmerans to the Castle of Lions before the planet implodes _ ,” she finished.

“Okay, that sounds like a good plan,” Hunk said leaning over to the screen, “but how on earth do you plan on landing the Castle with that monster-thingie on the surface?” he asked.

“You’ll need a distraction,” Katie called and Lance frowned.

“How do you even know the Balmerans will go to the castle?” Lance asked leaning into the picture so they could see him.

“ _ What do you mean, Lance? _ ” Shiro asked.

“Well, if they think they themselves caused this to happen, they wouldn’t want to leave, thinking they should die with the Balmera. I’ve seen this before back on Earth, an island’s volcano was erupting and the people thought they angered it and let themselves burn,” he said and Allura and Coran looked shocked and horrified. The other paladins nodded agreement with what Lance said.

“ _ He’s right, Princess _ ,” Shiro called.

“Can I talk to Shay’s family?” he asked and Shiro nodded, turning his arm so that the Balmerans were in view. “Is there any way to talk to the other Balmerans on planet?” he asked and the grandma came forward.

“ _ You’re Altean, all Alteans have a unique ability that allows them to commune with the Balmera. It’s something only a few races have, _ ” she explained and Lance nodded kneeling down and placed his hand onto the ground and closed his eyes.

“Balmerans, I’m the Blue Paladin and Prince of Altea, Lance. You may not know me, but I along with my sister, Allura, want to help you along with the rest of the paladins. I understand that you might feel that you need to stay with the Balmera when it dies. Planet Altea, my home, was destroyed 10,000 years ago by Zarkon. Let me be clear in this, if I could, I would have either died with everyone else or I would have tried saving everyone on the planet if our planet couldn’t be saved. I know it’s hard, but please don’t think you must die with your planet. You have a chance to help others if the Balmera can’t be saved. Wouldn’t you rather save others from this same fate than die here?” he asked pulling his hand away.

He stood up and looked to Shay’s family who looked at him with sad smiles. “ _ Your words have touched our hearts. Thank you, _ ” the grandma said with a smile and Lance smiled back. “ _ You’ve given us reason to hope again. _ ”

Lance nodded his head and kneeled down once again and placed his hand down. “Everyone, head to the shaft I’m at and get into the caves just below the surface,” he then stood up and looked back to the others as they looked over at him with pride.

“ _ Prince, your speech worked. All the Balmerans are heading to the surface, _ ” Coran exclaimed happily.

“Guys, head out and distract the monster while Coran triangulates Blue’s position and heads over,” Lance called and everyone nodded agreement and ran to the lions. He waved goodbye to Katie while Blue changed back to normal size. Lance ran through the mines and soon met up with Shay’s family and they went to the surface. Soon they along with a couple other Balmeran families made it to the surface.

“ _ How’s it look down there? _ ” Allura asked. “ _ Is the monster distracted? _ ” 

“ _ I’d say so, _ ” Shiro called as he and the others had the monster move farther away from where Lance was.

“The Balmeran’s are heading to the surface, once you get here and help them I’ll go help the others distract the monster,” Lance called and soon the castleship descended down. Lance waved more up as the castleship landed on the ground and Allura came out of the small transporter.

“Go help them,” she called and Lance nodded.

“I have an idea, go ahead Blue,” he called and Blue slowly grew back to her original size and took off. Everyone looked at Lance curiously and he smirked at them as his eyes started glowing. He then turned to face the robeast and started changing sizes. His neck elongated, arms and legs grew thicker and a tail sprouted from the base of his spine. His wings retracted into his back and scaly ones popped out as blue scales replaced tan skin.

A sleek and agile looking dragon was in the place was Lance once stood and everyone watched captivated as with huge beats of his wings, flew up with a roar. Everyone looked over and saw Lance and Blue flying over to the beast and went about keeping the monsters attention on them. Lance flew silently to the beast and came up from behind and blasted the beast with ice. He went up the body, freezing the arms temporarily to its body then encased its head so that its eyes couldn’t move. All the lions then blasted at the beast's chest, causing it to fall backward. Its arms break free and around its head, the ice cracks. Lance blasts ice at its head again to prevent its eyes from moving and flew in a different direction.

It raised its arms and lasers came after them with a vengeance. Lance twisted and turned, dodging the lasers with skill. At his horns were the earrings that floated by them, allowing him to hear everything but not talk without the monster hearing. “ _ The Balmerans are trapped! Only some got to the surface in time. What should we do? _ ” Allura asked and Lance turned to look at the castleship. Underneath the ship, it glowed a bright blue.  _ Get Allura to look under the castleship. That light must mean something _ , Lance asked Blue and Blue roared agreement.

“ _ Princess, Lance says to look underneath the castleship. There’s a light there that might mean something _ ,” Shiro called.

“ _ The ground there is healed apparently. The castle healed it! _ ” she called out.

“ _ It’s true! Your energy combined with the ships crystal has rejuvenated this part of the Balmera, _ ” Coran explained.

“ _ That’s it! Maybe we can perform the ceremony you spoke about. We can save the Balmera, _ ” Allura said.

“ _ In the days of old, when Alteans were given the gift of crystals from a Balmera, we would repay its sacrifice by performing a ceremony. A sacred Altean would re-infuse the Balmera with quintessence. In this way, we had a symbiotic relationship _ ,” Coran explained presumably to the Balmerans.

“ _ The Galra have only been taking. It’s time we give back _ ,” Allura said and Lance’s eyes widen. He blasts ice as the beast again before landing down.  _ To revive the Balmera would take too much energy, she’ll need help! _ he thought to Blue who told it to the Paladins.

“ _ Lance believes this will take too much energy on your own, _ ” Keith called into the comms.  _ Let me help you _ , he continued. “ _ He wants you to let him help _ ,” he finished and Allura grunted.

“ _ Hurry then _ ,” she called and Lance started flying over to Allura. “ _ Keep Lance safe as he comes over _ ,” she called and everyone made sounds of agreement, flying all about to keep the monster on them. He got closer to the castle and heard shouts from his team members. He turned his head and saw a laser coming toward him. He quickly looked to see where he was and saw that the castle would be hit if he moved.

He moved his body so that it slanted, creating a path away from the castle. The beam hit him a second later and moved with his body. Grunts and groans left Lance’s mouth as it continued across his body before stopping. He soon landed on the ground and changed back, stumbling to his hands and knees. Coran ran over and helped him up off the ground with a concerned look. “Are you alright?” he asked and Lance nodded.

“Sore, that laser was powerful, but not powerful enough to cut through a dragon’s hide. Dragon skin is very tough. No heat or flame can cut through it, but that doesn’t mean you’ll come out dandy,” Lance explained and Coran nodded and they walked over to Allura and the Balmerans. Lance went over to Allura underneath the castleship. All the Balmerans went onto the ground in the glowing blue area close to them and placed their hands down. They then both closed their eyes and spread their arms out as a light blue beam came down from the ship and landed around both Lance and Allura.

“ _ Guys, something is happening here! I-I think there’s a way to take down all those laser eyes at once _ ,” Hunk called.

“ _ Well, what is it? _ ” Katie asked.

“ _ Do you remember how Voltron formed that sword with Keith’s bayard? I think my lion’s telling me I can do the same thing with my bayard, _ ” he reasoned.

“ _ Are you sure? _ ” Keith asked. “ _ And don’t slam your bayard in yet, we still need to form Voltron _ .”

“ _ Let’s find out, _ ” he said.

“ _ But Lance is helping Allura, how do we form Voltron without him? _ ” Katie asked.

“I can help you but blue would be doing everything by herself, you okay with that?” Lance asked and everyone made noises of agreement. Lance reached his mind out to Blue and felt it pull more once they started to form Voltron while still focusing on the ceremony happening.

“ _ Form Voltron! _ ” Shiro yelled and they flew up with Blue delayed slightly. They landed in front of the beast, blocking it from the castle when it turned to it.

“ _ Form thingie! _ ” yelled Hunk as he slammed his bayard into the slot. A giant cannon then formed on Voltron’s shoulders, power coursed through everyone and Lance started trembling lightly at being pulled in two different directions in his mind. A large beamed laser flew from the cannon at the monster as it shot a massive laser back from all the small beams coming together in front of the monster.

The beams meet in the middle and everyone shook from the force. “ _ It’s not enough! _ ” Shiro shouted.

“ _ We’ll have to try something else! _ ” Hunk yelled as he turned Voltron slightly making the beam change directions, going up and by one of the castle’s spires. Dust flew up and Coran ducked, turning away and covered his face. He turned to look at Voltron before looking back to the royals. He ran over when he saw Lance trembling from the strain and reached out before stopping, fearing that he might mess up the ceremony.

“You may want to hurry! I believe it’s straining for Lance to have his mind strung out in two different directions,” Coran called.

“ _ We’re trying our best _ ,” Shiro called. They flew away and Yellow started scanning the robeast and pulled up an image of it.

“ _ Are you guys seeing this? _ ” Hunk asked.

“ _ Roger that _ ,” Keith answered.

“ _ Let’s see what this thi8ng can do. Engage! _ ” Shiro called out and the cannon reformed onto Voltron’s shoulder. Multiple lasers shot from the cannon and swirled, hitting different points on the robeasts arms. The beast soon fell down onto a knee as it arms sparked. Lance and Allura held their arms out for a little longer after hearing the beast collapse before going down and pressed their hands to the ground.

The beam expanded onto the ground and the blue expanded to all over. “ _ Guys look! _ ” Shiro called and Lance heard their sounds of amazement as the planet turned blue before going back to a healthy brown. The beast then stood up and shot its massive original beam at Voltron. The team flew around and came at the beast and hit it back with a massive punch. The beast flew over the shaft and everyone watched as it went over before crashing onto the ground across from them, not moving, the green lights powering down.

The large beam from the castle slowly grew smaller until it started shrinking as two on the two Alteans. It soon finished and both shuddered before falling over. Shay picked Allura up while Coran got Lance. A groaning could be heard and a bright light happened, Coran, Shay, and the other Balmerans looked up to see Voltron disband. Blue flew over to Coran while shrinking down and landed. She rubbed against Lance’s side who groaned softly. “Princess, are you all right?” Shay asked and Allura nodded.

“Did it work?” Allura asked.

“Yes. The Balmera lives. It thanks you,” Rax said standing up.

“ _ Is Lance all right? _ ” Keith asked as Red landed and opened her mouth, letting Keith fly out and land beside Coran who held Lance gently.

“He’s unconscious which caused you to disband so quickly. His mind was strained too much from being pulled in two directions strongly,” Coran thought and Keith pulled his helmet off and tossed it lightly to the side, ignoring some Balmerans gasping and lowered his ear to Lance’s chest. A faint heartbeat sounded and Keith sighed pulling back.

“Yeah, he most likely over exerted himself,” he agreed and both Coran and Allura nodded.

“You have a Galra on your team?” Shay asked and Keith looked between Shay, Allura, and Coran.

“You see, he’s a Half-breed. He didn’t even know it until he along with the others arrived at the castle. I created a formula that made it possible for him to change between the two at will. Just at the moment, he’s stuck like that since his body had repressed this change for years because of a serum to protect himself,” Coran explained and the Balmerans nodded understanding.

The others soon come running over to them, worry written on their faces but at Keith’s smile, they relax knowing that Lance is fine. Shay then stood up, helping Allura when the ground started shaking. Everyone stumbled about and looked around before landing on the robeast getting up. “No,” Allura called out in horror. The ground started shaking again right as the beast charged up its laser and crystals moved up its body. The beast looked down in confusion before crying out as a crystal emerged from his chest through its cannon\heart. Soon, the entire being was encased by crystals.

“No way,” Hunk called.

“The Balmera just saved us,” Coran commented with a smile over at Allura who was leaning slightly against Shay.

“Look at the crystals!” Allura called out happily. Everyone looked around as crystals started growing from the ground.

“Oh, who’s a good Balmera? You are,” Hunk’s voice floated and they turned to see Hunk on the ground scratching the Balmera’s surface. “Who ate the big monster? You did. Yes, you did. Yes, you did,” he continued and everyone looked at him curiously.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Keith asked leaning back from Coran who was still holding Lance.

“What? It’s alive, and it wuvs my scwatches,” Hunk answered happily as he continued to scratch the planet’s surface with a chuckle while Keith gripped the bridge of his nose before turning back to Lance’s unconscious body.

“Let’s get him back to the castle,” Shiro suggested and both Coran and Allura nodded agreement. Keith leaned back and gently pulled Lance to him, getting a good grip under Lance’s knees and wings before standing up. Shiro and Katie then trailed after Keith into the Castle with Coran helping Allura in farther behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so the Hunk scene went along basically as it did in the episode so I didn’t rewrite it. That’s what’s gonna happen for any future scene that doesn’t get written alright? Plus, this was already pretty long since it follows the whole episode, something I don’t normally do. Ok, hope you enjoyed! Going back to writing all my other fics now!


	19. Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NOT A CHAP BUT A NOTE

I'm goin on HAITUS for an indefinite time because of personal reasons. So no fic will be posted or updated for that time, i'm sorry for those who have been waiting for updates. im very sorry bit because of hate im not in a good emotional state to write so please be patient with me.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I LIVE!!!(mushu gif) Sorry for the very long wait, but as I said, I needed time to heal and I’m better. I’m not healed all the way, that would take years to do, but I’m definitely better. And let me say, thank you for all the kind messages from you guys! Those really helped me get better seeing that so many of you cared about my mental health. So, thank you. This is dedicated to those you reached out and wished me luck, you know who you are. And, fair warning, updates for all my fics will still be slow because of school. Just warning you, school can be so draining some days. Luv ya!! Also, this is dedicated to my awesome friend! You rock!  
> Tumblr: paladinwilla  
> Twitter: @paladinwilla

Hunk and Katie shared a look as they looked at the mess that was the kitchen, wings shaking themselves clean. They had just stopped the machine after leaving Shiro alone with Sendak. “Maybe the kitchen system needs to be rebooted, too?”

“Leave it for Coran?” Katie asked and Hunk nodded agreement while Rover seemed to beep disapprovingly at them. They then turn, Katie putting her hands behind her head and Hunk shoving his into his pants while whistling as they walk out of the room. They continue down the hall and toward the training deck to see how Keith was doing since he finally pulled himself from Lance’s room. Right as they entered the hall leading to the deck, Keith bolted from the room and locked the door. He leaned against the door breathing heavily, wings tense behind him and the pair looked at each other before rushing over.

“Are you ok?” Katie asked and before Keith could respond, a sword pierced the miniscule gap and turned to show a piercing red eye. Katie yelled out as they all stumbled away from the door, wings puffed up in fear, as the gladiator forced the door open. They ran down the hall away from the gladiator.

“What’s happening!?” Hunk asked as they flew and both Keith and Katie shrugged.

“We need to get our Bayards!” Katie shouted and they started down a different hall that led toward their rooms. “We’ll be quick!” Katie shouted as she went down to her room along with Hunk. Right as she came back out, the gladiator came down the hall and started fighting Keith. Katie willed her Bayard to change as she ran toward Keith and pointed it at the Gladiator and the blade shot out, wrapping around the Gladiator’s torso.

A wave of electricity went down the wire toward the Gladiator and shocked it, making it twitch allowing Keith to go forward and cut it apart. The bot pixelated away and the rope\wire around it fell before zipping back into Katie’s Bayard. “We should find Coran!” she shouted and the other two nodded agreement.

“He said something about cleaning the pods,” Hunk said as they ran, remembering Coran saying that as he left to get food. They soon made it to the pods and looked about curiously. “He should be here, check the pods,” he said, right then the door opened again and their lions along with Rover came in. Rover floated to a pod and a holoscreen came on. Rover let off a beam that hit a button and the pod hissed up before hissing open.

Coran stumbled out of the pod with a suspicious look at it. “Ah! Paladins! Something is going on here! We need to warn the princess!” he shouted walking off while rubbing his arms.

“What about Lance?” Katie asked.

“He’s still asleep. He’ll be out of it for a few more vargas at least from all the strain put on him,” he explained.

“We should also tell Shiro” Keith said and Coran nodded agreement. They started flying down the hall toward the chambers.

**XXX**

“ _ Lance? _ ” a voice cut through his consciousness. “ _ Lance? _ ” it called again and his eyes squinted open with a groan. “ _ Lance, dear son, _ ” Lance’s eyes widened when he saw that it was Alfor.

“Dad? How, we disconnected your AI?” he asked and Alfor’s hologram smiled at him.

“ _ That doesn’t matter, _ ” he responded and suddenly flowers grew all around and a gentle lapping of water could be heard from the ocean. A small gasp left Lance as he reached out and plucked one of the Juniberry’s from the ground, wings giving a gentle flap in excitement. “ _ Aren’t they exquisite? _ ” he asked.

“They are, it’s sad that we may never see them again though,” Lance responded, blowing gently onto the flower so that the petals and pollen flew gently away.

“ _ Altea is not merely a thought, Lance _ ,” Alfor started and Lance looked at him curiously. “ _ It still exists _ ,” he continued reaching down and plucked one up. “ _ The Juniberry, you can see it. You can touch it _ ,” he handed Lance the flower which he took gratefully. “ _ I can take you there. I can take you home, _ ” he said at last and Lance gasped, wings puffed up.

“Really?” Lance asked shocked. “Allura and I really miss it, but it was destroyed along with all the others, surely?” he asked and Alfor shook his head.

“ _ No, I hid it away. Come with me and I will show you the way with Allura. She’s waiting on the bridge _ ,” he said and Lance stood up as a strange feeling crept up inside him. Blue meowed questioningly as he walked to the door with Alfor but he didn’t hear it. The feeling making it impossible to hear anything that would stop them from going home.

**XXX**

“I forgot to ask, are you Paladins alright?” Coran asked and they shrugged.

“Got attacked by killer goo then by a killer robot, so I guess we’re ok,” Katie called as they got closer to the hall. “What’s even causing this?”

“Perhaps the infection from Sendak’s Galra crystal is worse than we thought,” he responded.   
“Then shouldn’t we get rid of it?” Hunk asked.

“It’s too late. When Sendak plugged it into the ship, it corrupted the entire system. We’ll need to do a entire system reboot which would shut the castle down for at least a varga,” Coran explained.

“Sendak? We need to hurry then!” Keith said pushing himself harder and soon they arrived at the hall and Shiro was gripping his hair.

“I’m not listening to you!” Shiro shouted bending over slightly.

“ _ Do you really think a monster like you could be a Voltron Paladin? _ ” a voice echoed that sounded like Sendak.

“Shiro!” Keith shouted and Shiro looked over at him right as Keith bowled him down in a hug. The others soon caught up and wrapped their own arms and wings around Shiro and his ragged breathing slowly calmed out. “Are you ok?” Keith asked, waiting patiently for an answer as the Lions came over and purred comfortingly at Shiro.

“I, I will be,” Shiro managed. “Thanks,” he continued as they slowly broke up and heard hollow metallic footsteps. Blue ran into the hall and growled at them, jerking her head back down the hall.  _ Paladin, there’s something wrong with your mate _ , Red spoke and Keith’s eyes widened.  _ He along with his sister are in the bridge _ .

“We need to get to the Bridge, fast!” Keith shouted before taking off with the others following him.

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked as he pulled up beside Keith with the lions running in front of them.

“It’s Lance and Allura. Red said there’s something going on,” he replied and Shiro nodded. They arrived right as Allura placed her hands on the pillars beside her, Lance standing next to her with a hologram of who they could assume was their father behind. In front was a holomap of the universe. “Lance?” he called out gently but Lance didn’t seem to hear him.

“Lance, buddy. What’s going on?” Hunk called and then Lance tilted his head.

“Princess, Prince, what are you doing? You should be resting,” Coran said and the two turned to them and they could see their eyes were dull.

“We’re heading home,” Lance said with a smile.

“Father is taking us,” Allura said before turning back along with Lance. The others then ran forward but Shiro hit a forcefield right as Alfor appeared on the screens.

“ _ Stay away from my children! _ ” he shouted.

“Um,” Hunk responded looking at all the faces that were angry.

“Allura, Lance, wake up!” Shiro shouted.

“How is this happening? Alfor’s AI was taken out, how is he controlling the castle?” Coran asked and the others could only shrug. “Allura! Lance! Children, wake up! What you’re seeing isn’t real!” Coran shouted, hoping to get them to realize before they do something they regret.

Allura and Lance watched fascinated as the butterfly like insect with feathers and two long feathers behind flew by them.

“The Juniberries, the most exquisite flower of all,” Allura said reaching down to pluck one.

“ _ Children, please! You’ve got to listen to me! _ ” Coran’s voice came through staticy and they looked at Coran’s unfocused and unstable image.

“Is this real?” Lance asked.

“ _ Of course it is real, children. That flower you’re touching is real, Allura, _ ” Alfor said.

“ _ But where is the fragrance of the sweet Juniberries? _ ” Coran’s staticy voice came again and Allura looked over while Lance faced forward, knowing Alfor wouldn’t lie to them.

“Huh,” Allura said once she smelled the flower but nothing came to her nose, just the sterile castle air. “That’s not Altea. You lied father!” Allura shouted and Lance turned to her questioningly.

“Dad wouldn’t lie to us,” Lance responded, wings tight behind him while Allura looked at him sadly, wings drooped behind her.

“Lance, that isn’t Altea. It’s just a star, Altea is gone,” she said and tears started to form in Lance’s eyes.

“No, that’s not right. Dad wouldn’t intentionally lie to us,” he said and Allura went forward and touched one of the pillars as she reached out, hoping to turn the map off but was shocked. She yelled out as she stumbled back and Shiro caught her. “Allura!?” he called alarmed as she disappeared from the field.

“ _ It’s alright son, Allura just needed a break, _ ” he said and Lance looked at him curiously.

“But,” he started and Alfor shushed him.

“ _ All will be fine, _ ” Alfor said and Lance’s brows furrowed, his mind clearing slightly.

“Where’s Allura?” he asked and Alfor frowned. Lance groaned as a pain filled his head, the fog coming back but he tried fighting it.

“Lance!” Keith shouted, banging against the force field as Lance went down to one knee while his hands gripped his head. Coran went over and tried typing on a council but was shocked as the Galra symbol came up.

“What?” Coran asked confused and the others looked at it curiously.

“Sendak must somehow be connected to the castle now!” Katie shouted.

“If the witch connected something on him to the castle, he could probably control the castle even when he’s under,” Allura explained and Katie snapped her fingers.

“Then we need to shut his eye down which means destroying it! You get Lance from this knock off while we do that!” with that, she and Shiro flew down the hall with Coran following behind them. Keith looked at Lance sadly as he continued to pound on the force field.

“Lance! Wake up!” he shouted and Lance turned to look, eyes flicker before going dull again. The fog around Lance’s mind continued to resist anyone who was against his ‘father’.

“I am awake,” he responded and Keith growled.

“But you aren’t. If you truly were then you’d see that that isn’t real!” he tried.

“Lance, please! That isn’t father! You have to believe me!” Allura called and Lance looked at her curiously before turning to Alfor’s hologram.

“Dad?” Lance asked walking over to the pillars. The map flickered and Altea disappeared, replaced with a old star. “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Lance yelled out as the pillars shocked him.

“Lance!” both Keith and Allura yelled out as Lance buckled and fell to the ground, head just passing the force field. Keith pulled Lance out to them and cradled him gently while Allura brushed her fingers through his hair.

**XXX**

They landed outside Sendak’s container, the cylinder beside it casting a faint purple glow, particles of purple floating all around. “So what are we going to do?” Shiro asked.

“First, take these off,” Coran started, he then pulled off the devices that they had put on earlier in the day.

“We’ll need to make sure Sendak stays unconscious, how?” Katie asked and Coran smirked.

“By this,” Coran responded, pressing a button that had green fog be released into the container. It soon was all inside Sendak and Coran pressed another button that opened the seal.

“Now, we just gotta figure out how to remove the eye,” Katie said and then smirked. “Move,” she then shoved her Bayard’s blade into the eye. The mechanical eye then started to spark and smoke as it was shorted out by the electricity. “That should do it.”

Coran then pulled a device out and pointed it at the eye. It then beeped and Coran smiled at the results. “It worked,” he said as the case sealed up again and they walked back to the bridge.

They soon arrived to see Keith holding Lance while Allura carded her fingers through his hair, his breathing even. “What happened?” Shiro asked and the two looked up while Hunk fiddled with some devices.

“The fake Alfor shocked him when Lance realized that he lied,” Keith said.

“But I will make sure he know’s that that wasn’t Alfor,” Allura said and Coran and Shiro nodded understanding while Katie went over and hugged Lance. “Why don’t we get him back to his room while the rest of us go and see about the info we got from Sendak.

“Yes, but you are resting yourself,” Coran said and Allura nodded.

“Alright, but I’m going to quickly deal with this,” she said and Coran nodded as Keith lifted Lance to take him back while the others started toward the hall that held Sendak.

**XXX**

A droid looked around the empty hall cautiously before heading down, down to where the cells were. It passed a hall and saw that farther down where the Paladins as they surrounded a container. It’s program decided it’d go look for Haxus thent as he would make the better choice right then. It continued down and soon made it to the cells and looked down it. Halfway down the hall, a bright blue light shone, lighting up the hall in both directions for several feet.

It started down and found Haxus sitting on the floor. He looked up as footsteps sounded and smiled when he saw that it was a droid coming over to him. “What’s the mission?” Haxus asked as the droid worked on opening the cell.

“Put this potion into Prince Lance and get him back to Emperor Zarkon,” it replied and Haxus looked curiously at the syringe full of purple liquid.

“What does it do?” he asked.

“It will de-age him and erase his memories,” it responded and Haxus smiled viciously at that.

“Oh, I will not fail my lord's mission,” he said right as the cell opened. Haxus took the syringe and started walking down the hall with the droid behind him as they made their way to the rooms. Right as they make it to the hall that leads to the royal’s sleeping quarters an alarm blared.

“ _ Haxus has escaped! We must find him immediately! _ ” a accented male voice called out and Haxus sneered.

“Keep watch. I’ll only be a dobosh,” he called and made his way to the rooms. He soon made it to the first door and peeked inside. There lieing in bed was Prince Lance resting with the Blue Lion on the floor. He hums in thought before jumping up and grabbing onto a ledge and throwing a piece of his armor far off. It clanked against the metal, it’s sound echoing all around.

The door opened and the Blue Lion walked out, looked around before going down the way the sound came from. They turn down a hall and disappear, footsteps fading. Haxus dropped silently from his spot and went to the door. It hissed open but the Prince didn’t move, from what he could gather, the battle for the Balmera and then the castle corruption had been taxing if he didn’t move for a door opening. He went over to the Prince and plunged the needle into his skin and pushed the contents into his bloodstream.

Prince Lance’s eyes shot open but they didn’t see anything, his wings tensed up while pushing outward in shock. A far away look was in his eyes for a brief second before a pain filled them. He started gasping, spasming on the bed with strangled noises as the potion took effect. He grabbed the Prince and threw him over his shoulder before booking it out of the room, the wings spasming making him lose balance, and down the hall. As he ran the sentry droid ran beside him, gun raised and in case they ran into one of the Paladins.

They entered a pod bay and ran to the nearest one. Haxus grabbed one of the Prince’s hands and placed it with great difficulty onto the pod and it opened up. He and the droid climbed in and he tossed the Prince behind them as he continued to spasm. Right as the cover went over and the pod powered up, a few Paladins came in, weapons ready. A sneer left Haxus as he moved the pod up and then out to the exit.

The doors scrapped the pods ends as they blasted through and he started up the wormhole sequence.

**XXX**

Shiro watched in disbelief as the pod made it out of the Castleship and into space. “Get to the lions!” he barked, turning to head to the bridge. Keith and Hunk followed him as Katie ran from where she was looking back to the bridge. They soon got into their lions and sped out into space right as the pod went into a wormhole. “Where’s he going?” he asked Allura.

“ _ Let me see, _ ” she replied before gasping. “ _ Oh no. No, no, no! _ ” a sob came over the comm had Shiro’s heart racing.

“What’s happening!?” he demanded and a sniffle came over.   
“ _ Haxus is taking Lance to Zarkon, _ ” Coran responded and dread filled Shiro’s veins as the others gasped.

“How are we going to get him back?” he asked.

“ _ I don’t know, _ ” Coran replied and at that, all the Paladins wings fell down as the lions mourned for their sister and her now missing cub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m jerky aren’t I? Leave you on a cliffy that won’t be updated for a while. I hope you enjoyed! Also, again, updates will take a bit, so sorry. LOVE YA! *runs to hide in the void*


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND HERE’S THE NEXT CHAP! Not as long of a wait, huh. Not bad though. And hopefully everyone enjoyed last chap! I know for sure two did, but everyone else, I can only guess. LUV YA!  
> Tumblr: paladinwilla  
> Twitter: @paladinwilla

A pounding sensation went through Lance’s head. His wings twitched as an ache settled in them from whatever just happened. He looks around and recognizes the inside of an Altean pod. The last thing his mind could bring up was him stumbling into the bay as something attacked the castle. He made a soft inquisitive sound and a Galra turns to him. “He’s awake now, sir. It worked,” he said turning to the front and Lance stumbled to his stubby feet.

He walks over to look between the two and saw Zarkon’s familiar face, but instead of his kind gold eyes with red irises, they’re purple. “Unk?” Lance asked softly, still messing up on the word uncle. Zarkon turned to him and a soft smile reached his face as his eyes flickered briefly.

“ _ Ah, Lance. I trust your fine, _ ” he said and Lance scratched his head near his neck.

“What happened? Where’s dad and ‘Lura?” he asked and a sad look passed his face.

“ _ I’ll tell you everything once you arrive, _ ” he answered.

“A visit!” he exclaimed happily and Zarkon chuckled, leaving the Galra piloting confused for some reason. Lance tilted his head confused at the Galra.  _ Surely he’s seen Zarkon laugh before!? _ , he thought.

“ _ Not quite _ ,” he responded slowly. “ _ You’ll see soon enough. I’ll have Lieutenant Thace meet you at the docks _ ,” with that, Zarkon turned off the transmission and the Galra snarled at him. Lance cowered back at that, not understanding why a Galra would be mean to him. The man smirked before turning back to face the front. In the distance was a giant ship with Galra battlecruisers all around in.

“Whoa,” Lance whispered as they went to it. At first, ships turned to them but then turned away, presumably told by Zarkon not to shoot.  _ But that would be weird. Why would they shot Altean ships? _ , he thought to himself. The pod docked and outside stood a soldier that had a short beard that was more like the beginnings of one with two streaks of grayish hair on his head. The pods cover opened and Lance peeked over the edge with wide eyes.

**XXX**

Thace watched amused as the what appeared to be ten-year-old look over the edge with awe-filled eyes. A small smile made its way to his face, little kids always seem to do that to him. Haxus sneered at the kid causing him to flap his wings a few times to get out of the pod before falling to the ground and rushing over to him. He clutched at his legs with a scared look and he gave the kids head a pat while glaring at Haxus. “Don’t scare the poor thing. What’s your name?” he asked gently as he kneeled down.

“L-Lance. Where’s my sister?” he asked, a fear creeping into his voice and Thace sighed as he picked Lance up with ease.

“That’s a nice name. I’m Thace. As for your sister, I’m not sure. Emperor Zarkon should know though,” Thace answered before ruffling his hair earning a laugh from the kid which had soldiers all over looking at them before returning to their tasks. “Why don’t we get you up to him,” he suggested and Lance nodded happily.

“Unk!” he said and Thace raised a brow at that as he started walking.

“Unk?” he asked and Lance nodded enthusiastically. “Uncle?” he ventured and Lance continued nodding. “He’s your uncle?” he asked.

“Yup! He and dad are close! I see him every day, I like spending time with him. He said I can call him Unk,” Lance explained, swinging his legs back and forth as he gripped at Thace’s armor while his wings were puffed up in what could be thought of as excitement.

“Interesting,” Thace replied and Lance nodded. They soon got to a massive door and Lance looked up in wonder. Thace raised a hand and placed it on the door, it hissed open and down a long hall was Zarkon in his throne with a witch by him that looked vaguely like his wife Honerva.

“Unk?” he called out and Zarkon turned with a smile.

“Ah, Lance. You’ve arrived,” he greeted and Lance wiggled to get down and Thace complied. Lance then ran over to Zarkon and looked up at him with a smile that soon disappeared as he looked around and didn’t see Honerva.

“Where’s Ahunt?” he asked and Zarkon’s gaze turned sad.

“She’s gone,” he answered and Lance looked at him confused.

“When will she get back?” he asked and Thace looked sadly at Lance.

“She’s gone for good,” Zarkon said and tears started falling from Lance’s face at that.

“She’s gone?” he asked and Zarkon nodded sadly. Lance buried his face in Zarkon’s chest at that and cried. He liked Honerva since she was close to dad and was an alchemist. She often came to visit Altea with Zarkon since she came from Altea and missed her family and friends.

“We’ll be in my chambers,” with that, Zarkon stood up holding Lance to his chest and walked from the room. “There’s something else I need to tell you,” Zarkon said as they entered the bedroom chamber. Lance looked up through tear stained eyes at him.

“What is it, Unk?” he asked.

“You’ve been asleep for over 10,000 years. And it’s because of your father,” he started and Lance looked at him curiously. “Your father became crazy when the rift on Dibazal was closed. He destroyed Dibazal in the hopes of opening it again, he killed Honerva along with many other citizens that weren’t evacuated in time,” he started and Lance’s face had horror painted on it. “I was forced to defend my people as he attacked, I battled him and was able to knock him out. But something happened, the bridge we were on collapsed where he was. I tried to save him but couldn’t. When I went to talk to his wife and Allura, they attacked me.”

Lance patted Zarkon’s chest as his face fell talking, making sure the child believed it. But what he said about Alfor’s death was true. He knocked him unconscious, wanting to see if he’d follow, but with fires going all around, it weakened the structure and his side collapsed, taking him down. “They wouldn’t,” Lance tried but Zarkon shook his head.

“They became as mad as he was, blamed me for it. We were forced to fight, we tried to tell your mother Altea was unstable from all the fighting but she didn’t listen. She placed Allura in a pod and had Ilek put you in one too. He and Tsra took you someplace safe and hoped that Altea would calm down….but it didn’t. They put you in a cyropod in Blue and put you on a hidden planet. We found you right as your sister was attacking. We got you off and on your way here. We were lucky to find you before those monsters did. The new paladins are being tricked by her, we’re just trying to protect the universe from anyone becoming like your dear father did,” he said and Lance continued looking on in disbelief.

“If that long has passed, how…?” he asked and Zarkon smiled gently.

“Haggar placed a spell on me that helps me live. I wanted to tell you the truth before Allura could tell you lies,” Zarkon explained and Lance nodded with tears in his eyes.

“What about Ilek, Tsra, and Hissis?” he asked and Zarkon shook his head sadly.

“After they took you away to safety, your mother had them killed for treason.”

“No, no, nonononono!” Lance cried out and Zarkon hushed him gently and placed his hand behind Lance’s head and pulled him closer. Lance placed his head on Zarkon’s shoulder as tears trailed down his cheeks. Zarkon rubbed his hand on Lance’s back in a soothing circle to help calm him.

**XXX**

“We’ll get him back, Princess,” Shiro said as Coran rubbed her back soothingly and he had an arm around a normal Keith. A few hours ago after Lance had been taken he finally changed back and could now change between forms.

“I’ve contacted Nyma and Rolo and asked them to see if either rebel groups can find a way to get Lance back,” Coran said and Allura nodded understanding. “They should be contacting us soon with the answer,” he said and soon a beeping sounded out.

Allura stood up and walked over to the screen and pressed a button. Nyma then appeared on the screen with a smirk. “ _ I have some good news for you, _ ” she said and Allura leaned forward.

“Do you know how to get Lance back?” she asked and Nyma tilted her head side to side.

“ _ Sort of. One group can. They’re called the Blade of Marmora, they have agents all throughout the Empire. They are Galra who fight to free the Universe from Zarkon’s rule, _ ” she explained and Allura’s eyes widened.

“There are Galra fighting for good?” she asked and Nyma nodded.

“ _ There are. And their leader is here to speak to you, _ ” Nyma said before stepping aside. A tall and broad figure stepped up, they wore a hood covering a mask with three glass pieces that glowed a purple like color. Around their neck was a pale white colored-ish braid placed like a choker. They stood with authority, they all could see it through the screen.

“ _ Paladins, Princess, I am Kolivan, _ ” the person introduced before pushing the hood back to show that he was Galra. He had red and blue markings designs with his fur on his face, his ears stuck out like butterfly wings with bumps on the top of his head. A gray scar went over his eye and down past and over his lips on the right side. “ _ I am the leader of the Blade’s of Marmora, we are Galra that have seen the truth, it was an agent of mine that found your brother, _ ” he said and Allura’s eyes were cautious while she listened to Kolivan talk.

“How?” she asked.

“ _ He was sent to meet Lance and Haxus in the Command Ship, Zarkon’s headquarters. But that’s not all, Thace tells us that Lance looks young, _ ” he said and Allura gasped.

“Where is he right now!?” she demanded and a red streak that acted like a eyebrow was raised.

“ _ From what our agent Thace tells us, he’s in Zarkon’s chambers being comforted. Apparently, he’s been told your father destroyed Dibazal in anger and that your mother allowed Altea to collapse in on itself and killed the other paladins because of going crazy. He did talk of your father's death but only lied about a small part of it _ ,” Kolivan explained and Allura clasped her hands together in front of her face.

“Oh, Lance. But how do you know of my father's death?” she asked and Kolivan’s face became solemn.

“ _ It’s because my biological fathers were there. One, Dunok, was a servant to Zarkon, his husband was Blaytz, your father's close warrior-mate. He was close with your father even out of battle, they had each other's backs, _ ” he explained and Allura nodded, she remembered seeing Blaytz around the castle talking to her father and his other close friends, the Paladins along with Trigel, and Gyrgan. “ _ After Blaytz was killed, Dunok formed the Blade to avenge his husband _ ,” he finished.

“But if your their kid then how….?” Shiro asked this time and Kolivan leveled a calm look at him.

“ _ When I was sent on my first mission, I was badly injured. Father was worried since nothing they did worked to save me. So they searched and found Izabel, a druid in training and she used quintessence to heal me. But it has kept me alive all these years like Zarkon and some of the Generals, _ ” Kolivan said and they all looked at him shocked.

“No way,” Hunk said and Kolivan raised a brow at that.

“ _ Why are you saying that when I just said it? _ ” he asked and Hunk shared a look with the others.

“It’s a saying from where we're from, Earth. It’s what we say when we’re surprised or shocked. It’s not be taken seriously,” Shiro explained and Kolivan’s brow remained raised for a few more seconds before lowering. “So, how are we going to rescue Lance?”

“ _ We’ll need to distract Zarkon and have someone infiltrate and grab him. But it might prove difficult if the Prince believes Zarkon, _ ” Kolivan explained.

“Does Lance trust this Thace?” Allura asked and Coran twisted his mustache in thought.

“If Lance trusts Thace, he could get Lance back to us,” Coran said and Kolivan nodded.

“ _ That would work, but before we contact him we should come up with a way to distract Zarkon, _ ” Kolivan said and they all nodded agreement.

“And what would we do?” Keith asked standing up with both Red and Blue standing next to him.

**XXX**

Lance looked blearily around the room and the events from the day before came back. Tears once again pooled in his eyes at the thought. “Why, dad? Why?” Lance asked himself, knees his chest and his arms around them, forehead resting against his knees. Behind him, his wings trembled as he cried. The door opened with a hiss and Lance opened a eye to see who could be coming into the room. “Who-?” Lance asked as a tall man with long white hair came in.

“You must be the prince my father talked about,” he said and Lance tilted his head.

“You're related to Unk?” he asked and the man nodded.

“I am Prince Lotor. Before my mother was…..killed, she had me. But I was sickly, right before her death she healed me with quintessence,” Lotor said and Lance looked at him with sad eyes. Though Lotor knows the truth, he knows Honerva was helping Haggar, but in the end, it was her downfall.

“That’s very sad. I’m sorry,” Lance replied and Lotor looked at Lance surprised, no one has ever said that to him before.

“Uh, thank you,” he replied and heard a quiet ‘aw’ come from behind. He turned to see Ezor standing at the door with a loving look as she looked at Lance. “This is one of my Generals, Ezor. Ezor, this is Prince Lance” he introduced and Lance raised a hand out to shake Ezor’s in greeting. Ezor walked over and saw the red-rimmed eyes and a worry filled her.

“What’s wrong?’ she asked sitting down next to Lance while placing a hand on his shoulder. A tear slid down his face as he thought about it again and Ezor pulled Lance to her and settled him on her lap. He pressed his face to the juncture where her neck met shoulder and sniffled a bit.

“I can’t grasp why dad would go crazy and kill his friends and innocent people,” he said and Ezor cooed into his ear.

“I understand. It’s hard to understand why something happened. Sometimes it wasn’t their choice and other times it was. Maybe something caused your dad to go crazy,” she comforted. “But no matter what, just remember all the good times you had.” She felt Lance nod his head in understanding but still, tears fell but it was understandable. Lance would still be grieving for people he cared about. She placed her hand above and beneath his trembling wings and rubbed those spots comfortingly.

“I shall go speak to Thace, I’m sure he’ll think of something to help you,” Lotor said and he walked from the room. Lotor soon found Thace walking down the hall toward his quarters. “Lieutenant Thace,” Lotor called and Thace turned around and tilted his head.

“What do you need, Prince Lotor? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Yelix Galaxy?” he asked.

“I came to see the Prince my father talked so much about. And let us talk in your quarters,” he said and they walked down the hall to the room. They entered it and Thace looked at Lotor curiously, waiting for him to speak. “I know you are part of a rebellion,” he said and Thace’s eyes widened.

“Why would you say that? I am loyal to Emperor Zarkon and the Empire,” Thace said and Lotor leveled him a calm gaze that showed that he didn’t believe him.

“Don’t play coy. I know, my general Ezor watched. But, I’m not here to blackmail you. I wish to help them. I can get into places they could only dream of,” Lotor explained and thace’s eyes narrowed while he tapped his hand against his jaw.

“Why would you help to take down your own father?” he asked.

“Because, he didn’t resist the witch, killed many innocents, didn’t stop the deaths of his friends and now had Lance kidnapped and de-aged him while also erasing his memory. That’s not something I can allow,” Lotor explained and Thace nodded understanding.

“Alright, I’ll trust you. My group is talking with Voltron and making plans to rescue Lance from here. It’ll be difficult seeing as Lance has been told lies and now thinks Zarkon is right and his own sister is in the wrong. Think you could help?” he asked and Lotor nodded.

“Let’s go talk with them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOYA!! Next chap out! And Lotor an Ezor appear! And it seems like Lotor might be double crossing his father!(I did this because well, I did NOT wanna try writing canon Lotor right now, he is way too complicated for me at this point in my writing career). I hope you enjoy!!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s the next chap! How will Kolivan and the team react!? You’ll see! Remember, you can ask me anything throu either the comments, Tumblr: paladinwilla, Twitter: @paladinwilla!!

__

Lotor looked at Thace as he typed into his device, wondering if they were in a secure place. “Is this place secure?” Lotor finally asked, glancing at the device in hand giving off beeps alerting him to Ezor getting Lance to go to sleep.

“I’m sending an encrypted message saying I’m gonna be contacting them,” Thace explained and Lotor nodded.

“Where will we go?” Lotor asked and Thace looked up.

“In a ship with untraceable comms,” Thace said and started out of the room. They walked though the ship and soon made it to the ship Thace talked about and they went in, turning on their device. Lotor stood off to the side as the screen opened to show Kolivan in a white walled room that looked Altean.

“ _ Ah, Thace. What news do you bring? _ ” he asked and Thace nodded.

“The others should be here to hear,” Thace said and Kolivan nodded.

“ _ They’ll be here soon _ ,” Kolivan replied and soon, a door hissed through the screen behind Kolivan. Soon, five people came on screen and Lotor recognized four of them. “ _ Now will you continue? _ ” he asked and Thace nodded.

“We have another who wishes to help and could make this extraction easier,” Thace said and Kolivan raised a brow while three people, a lean young adult in red armor, a big young adult in yellow armor, and an Altean with silvery-white hair that looked familiar.

“ _ Who? _ ” the female asked and Lotor stepped into view, only eliciting raised brows from Kolivan. “ _ Who are you? _ ” she asked and Lotor bowed in greeting to them.

“I am Prince Lotor. I wish to help you and your cause. I have some Generals who would like to help as well, one is even with Prince Lance right now,”  Lotor said. “And you are?” he asked.

“ _ I am Princess Allura ,Lance’s brother. Behind me is, my advisor Coran, the Black Paladin Shiro, Red Paladin and Lance’s lover Keith, Yellow Paladin Hunk, and Green Paladin Katie _ ,” Allura introduced and Lotor nodded to each who all looked skeptical at him.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Lotor greeted.

“ _ Prince Lotor, what has made you want to fight your father? _ ” Kolivan asked and Lotor glanced briefly at Thace before looking at the unknown Galra again.

“Because, he didn’t resist the witch, killed too many innocents, allowed the deaths of his friends and now had Lance kidnapped and de-aged him while also erasing his memory. That was the final straw for me. I don’t believe I ever got your name, sir,” Lotor said and the Galra smirked.

“ _ That’s because I never gave it. You may call me Kolivan _ ,” he replied and Lotor bowed his head in greeting.

“Nice to meet you, Kolivan,” Lotor said and Kolivan tilted his head in acknowledgement. 

“ _ Thace said you could help in this rescue mission _ ,” Kolivan said and Lotor nodded agreement.

“Of course. If Zarkon knew of an easy fight, and Lance wanted to help, he’d send Lance over to see if he wants to make sure Lance is happy. But we’ll have to make sure that Zarkon is distracted enough he doesn’t notice Lance’s battle is ‘losing’,” Lotor explained and everyone nodded agreement.

“ _ How will we make sure he’s distracted enough for Lance to lose and get brought back? _ ” Allura asked.

“I’ve heard there’s an active rebel group that could help us. Voltron can go to one of the major planets once Lance is fighting the rebels. Zarkon will go to try stopping Voltron,” Lotor said and they nodded.

“ _ How will we know Lance will be safe? _ ” Allura asked.

“Thace will be with Lance. Zarkon has seen how Lance trusts Thace and will want someone Lance is familiar and comfortable with to be with him. Even though his memory has been erased temporarily, his body will recognize anyone in the rebel group you’ve met already,” Lotor said and everyone nodded agreement. “Do you know anyone in the rebel group?” he asked and Allura looked uncertain then.

“ _ Nyma and Rolo! _ ” Katie shouted and everyone looked over at her. Nyma walked up to the screen having been picked up to be on the castle along with Rolo. “ _ Nyma, if you and Rolo could do an attack with the Rebel group, you could get him, _ ” she said and Nyma nodded her head in agreement.

“ _ I’ll talk to the Rebels to see if they can help, _ ” Nyma said and everyone nodded as she left the screen to go to a quieter place.

“I shall go see how Lance is, my General just left Lance,” Lotor said and Allura nodded.

“ _ Of course. By tomorrow we should be ready to attack. Plant the idea into Lance’s head, alright? _ ” Allura replied and Lotor nodded.

“Of course. That shall be no problem,” Lotor said before turning around after giving them a goodbye. He walked away to their muttering and made his way to the room where Lance lay. He soon arrived and the door opened with a hiss and there on the bed laid Lance who looked sleepily at him. “Hello again, Lance. How are you feeling?” he asked and Lance sat up slowly as Lotor made his way over to the bed.

“Tired,” Lance responded and Lotor nodded.

“I imagine you would be. It has been an emotional day for you,” Lotor said sitting down and Lance nodded slowly at that. “So you like what Uncle Zarkon does?” Lance nodded again.

“He said he keeps the peace by himself now,” Lance answered.

“If someone tried causing trouble, would you want to help Zarkon by trying to stop them?” Lotor asked and Lance nodded.

“I’d do anything to help Unk,” Lance said and Lotor smiled.

“Well, I’m sure Zarkon would appreciate it,” Lotor said and Lance smiled while nodding excitingly. “Well, tomorrow you can tell him that. It’s been a long day for you, uh?” Lotor continued and Lance nodded, a yawn making its way out of him. Lance then crawled toward the end of the bed and Lotor stood up off the bed and pulled the blanket over Lance.

“Do you really think ‘Llura would fight the bad fight?” Lance whispered and Lotor startled at the question.

“You should know the answer to that,” Lotor said. “But if not, you’ll figure out the truth real soon,” he responded and Lance nodded, mouth opening wide, causing his face to scrunch up a bit. “Sleep well.”

“Night-*yawn*-Lotor,” Lance called and soon sleep pulled him. Lotor smiled briefly and left the room.

**XXX**

“What have the rebels decided?” Allura asked once Nyma came back into the room.

“They’ll help you if you help them,” Nyma said and all the paladins including Allura, raised a brow in question. “One of their members is looking for their father. They were separated when they were first captured by the Galra,” she said and Allura nodded.

“Of course. One of our own is looking for her family as well. I’m sure she’ll be glad to help,” Allura said glancing back to Katie who nodded agreement.

“Great. They said they were planning an attack on a trade planet that's slowly being destroyed by the Galra’s high payments and by then taking whatever items they want,” Nyma explained and Allura nodded.

“Good, something easy. Kolivan, think you could have men go and help?” Allura asked and Kolivan nodded. “Do the Rebels have an idea of a place Voltron could attack?” she asked and Nyma nodded.

“There’s a planet a light year from the Balmera you freed,” Nyma replied and Allura nodded.

“Good. and these planets are far from each other?” Allura asked and Nyma nodded. “Alright. Go into position with the Rebels and send us the planets coordinates. We’ll attack simultaneous,” Allura said and Nyma nodded.

“Alright,” Nyma said turning to leave the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chap was short. Sorry about that. I wanted to get this out but couldn’t write anymore. Just a warning, no other things will be updated for a little. It’s been a bit tough writing since my dad is making it very difficult right now. After a few days, (read after thursday) i’ll be writing again. So right now, I won’t be writing anything. Sorry again.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE’S THE NEXT CHAP!! Sorry it took so long for the update! It’s been crazy with school then the new fic. Somethings for the fic and drawin caused me trouble so it took longer than usual. Hopefully that won’t be a problem but I’m not gonna make any promises. We can hope though! Remember, you can ask me anything throu comments,  
> Tumblr: paladinwilla  
> Twitter: @paladinwilla

Allura glanced at the remaining Paladins and the Blade as the Castle-ship went through the wormhole to the chosen planet, Safire. They soon exited the wormhole and saw the planet up ahead, the planet had sent a distress beacon to the rebels a bit ago since the galra there are trying to get married to the princess of the planet. The Rebels found that the planet has a giant crystal linked to the current king or queen, it allowed them to heal everything and to stop any fights. And if the Galra were able to get connected to it, it would mean the end of that planet, it’s people, and the planets around.

The planet had a faint pink tint on the land, around all the land masses was bright blue, water. In the center of the planet, the castle magnified a giant, multi-colored crystal glowing brightly. “Once we get the signal that they’ve began, we need to wait half a varga to see if they send the next signal, if we don’t get it, we wait to attack,” Allura said and everyone nodded agreement.

**XXX**

Lance changed into the clothes Zarkon had brought to the room and went to the door. Outside stood Lotor with his general Ezor. “Hi, Lance!” she greeted with a smile and small wave and Lance gave one back.

“Did you sleep well?” Lotor asked and Lance nodded. “Why don’t you go tell father that you wish to help,” Lotor said and Lance nodded again, gripping Lotor’s hand as they made their way to the throne room. They soon made it to the room and Zarkon sat on the throne with Haggar beside him.

“Unk!” Lance called out and Zarkon gave the barest smile at Lance.

“Ah, Lance. How are you feeling?” he asked and Lance smiled.

“Better!” Lance said as he walked toward the throne and Zarkon moved to pick Lance up. “I wanna help you in anything I can! Dad, Ilek, and Tsrra did all teach me to fight!” he said and Zarkon nodded.

“They did, didn’t they?” he asked and Lance nodded. “Well then, sure. If it means that much to you, you can,” Zarkon said and Lance smiled brightly at that.

“You won’t regret it!” Lance said with confidence, causing Zarkon to tilt his head. Soon, a commander came in and Lance sat quietly while Zarkon talked to the man. After a bit, he walked away and a different one came up. Half way through their apparent meeting, a soldier ran in.

“The trade planet, Keilara, is under attack by rebels!” he said and Zarkon growled at that.

“Send a battleship out to stop those rebels,” Zarkon said and felt a tap. He looked down to see Lance looking at him.

“Can I go help?” he asked and Zarkon sighed.

“Yes, Lieutenant Thace will go with you,” Zarkon said and Lance smiled as Thace came forward to walk him to the ship. Lance climbed off the chair and Zarkon’s lap and went over to Thace who grabbed the hand Lance held out. They then walked through the ship toward docking and went onto the battleship waiting. As they climbed into the ship, Thace nodded toward Lotor who nodded back before walking away.

They then climbed toward the bridge and looked out the window as they pulled back and then warped to Keilara. Lance looked at the planet in fascination, rings went around the pale planet. Along the red-white surface, blue lights shown in patterns that could be assumed to be roads. A few ships were battling in space, along the surface was a few explosions. “Let’s get to the surface,” Thace said and Lance nodded agreement. They walked from the bridge and went into a ship along with other soldiers and droids.

They broke through the atmosphere and saw battling going on on the ground and Lance watched fascinatedly as droids and people fought, kicking up the white ground to expose the red dirt underneath. People of all looks ran around either fighting or getting to cover to hide from the battle. Shops were closed up while others were destroyed, buildings had metal covers over windows and doors to protect the people inside.

Lance glanced up at Thace and he nodded while grabbing a gun off a rack. “Only attack if someone tries shooting you. This is your first time, alright?” he asked and Lance nodded understanding as they ran toward some cover. Lance watched as soldiers and Thace shot across the gap toward the rebels. One smirked and threw an orb, people all around yelled out. “Move!” Thace grabbed Lance and jumped away. As they landed a good distance away, the crates near the orb blew up.

The debris flew everywhere, hitting people or landing harmlessly. Pieces flew toward them and Thace covered Lance’s body with his own. The one known as Nyma, nodded at him and he nodded back. She raised her gun, set to stun, and shot him. Lance watched scared as the man he considered a friend went down unconscious. A woman in blue with purple eyes came forward as her friends took out the other men.

Instead of being scared, he was curious. He watched with his wings piqued up in curiosity. She kneeled down in front of him and held her hand out. Some people behind seemed to watch with bated breath at the exchange. “Don’t worry. We’re the good guys,” she said and confusion crossed Lance’s face.

“But, Unk said he’s good,” Lance responded and Nyma looked at him sadly.

“That may be, but no matter what, your sister desperately wants to see you,” she said and Lance looked at her hopefully.

“Really!?” he asked and she nodded.

“She does, but Zarkon won’t allow her near you,” Nyma said.

“But-” Lance started as Nyma put two fingers at his neck, putting a sleep patch. Lance instantly felt tired, a wine left him as he was confused by what she did, alarmed since he thought he could trust her.

“All will be fine. We’ll get you home safe,” Nyma said as Lance fell asleep.

**XXX**

“Sir, Safire is being liberated by Voltron!” soldier called and Lotor smiled at that from the other room as he hear his father growl.

“Send in battleships to stop them!” he ordered and Lotor smirked, knowing that Voltron would not only succeed in getting Safire liberated but also get Lance. He walked away from the room and toward the ship Thace lead him to. He entered the ship and pulled up the comm to the rebels.

“Anyone there?” Lotor asked and the comm beeped as someone opened the comm.

“ _ Captain Olia here. Who’s this? _ ” a dog like female answered with a glare and Lotor smiled.   
“I’m Lotor. Thace and Kolivan who work with the Paladin’s know me. Just wanted to report that Zarkon is sending battleships to Safire so you better get Lance extracted from Keilara,” he said and Olia looked off screen.

“ _ You check out. And on it. The backup ships are on their way to Keilara. The battle to free it is almost done, _ ” she responded and Lotor smiled at her.

“Excellent, I’ll keep you updated. Lotor out.”

“ _ Alright. Captain Olia out, _ ” the comm then beeped off and Lotor walked away from the ship.

**XXX**

Allura greeted King Kanjigar and Queen Katzine of Safire with smiles. “I’m glad that you will join the Coalition. As a token of our gratitude, I give you this direct comm that will allow you to contact anyone in the cause,” Allura said and everyone smiled as the queen took it from Allura’s grasp. To the side down the staircase in the palace was the paladin’s as they greeted the citizens.

“Princess, is it true your brother is the Blue Paladin?” Queen Katzine asked and Allura gave a strained smile.

“That is true. But he won’t be joining us,” Allura said as Coran stepped forward at hearing the question.

“Why’s that?” she asked as her husband placed a hand on her thick shoulders. They looked like the Balmeran’s skin-wise while they all had blue eyes with a variety of irises. Their skin was different shades of orange, the king and queen themselves were lightest. Their hair matched their skin, shades darker though. The queens was put up delicately with a crown placed on top, holding some strands. On the crown were crystals of the same type as the giant pillar behind the castle. The king held a staff completely made of the same crystal, he brought the staff down twice, trying to stop the conversation.

“He’s um,” Allura looked down toward her Paladin’s and Shiro glanced up with concern. She gave a strained smile back before turning back to the rulers. “He was captured. But the rebels are getting him out as we speak,” Allura said and a sad look passed the rulers faces.

“Oh, I know how it feels to not know what’s happening to your own family, dear. While we were occupied they kept my dear Anita in a different location. But, I had hope when I heard you were coming so you should have hope if so many trust these rebels,” she said and Allura nodded thanks.

“Thank you Queen Katzine. That eases my nerves,” she replied gratefully and both rulers nodded.

“As thanks, we give you a piece of the Lovestone,” King Kanjigar said holding a piece out and Allura nodded gratefully.   
“Thank you, King Kanjigar. This will be treasured in the castleship by everyone,” she said and the two smiled while everyone cheered below. At the entrance, there was a commotion as figures entered but were bared. Allura looked over and gasped happily when she saw who it was. There stood Nyma and Rolo, in Nyma’s arms was a fast asleep Lance. His wings drooped to the ground, tips brushing across the ground occasionally while they talked to the guards. From what Allura could see, his face was relaxed, an almost peaceful expression there.

“That him?” Kanjigar asked and Allura nodded as she grabbed her dress skirt and started going down. “Go down with her and tell the men they can come in,” he said to a bodyguard who nodded.

They went down the stairs and people moved out of their way. Once she was close enough, Allura rushed toward Nyma and pulled Lance into her arms. “Oh, thank you, Nyma. thank you so much,” she said holding him close to her as they smiled.

“No problem, we owed you,” she said as the guards whispered to each other before pulling apart.

“Really, thank you. Let me introduce you to the King and Queen. I’m sure they will allow you to rest here for a couple days,” Allura said turning around.

“That would be nice,” Nyma replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is! The next chap! I hope you enjoyed it! And, remember, updates for this will be slower than other stories. Enjoy!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOA!! Next chap peps! Long time…..maybe. IDK how long since I updated ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. But here’s the next chap! It will be mostly fluffy stuff, just because. I just wanted to give ya fluff since you guys are AMAZING! And sorry if this chap is WAY shorter than usual, I just really wanted to let you guys have the next chap. Hopefully it won’t take as long for other updates but we’ll see. The next fic to be updated with be On The Horizon. I’m also workin on a lil comic for it. Later on of course in the fic, I just wanted to do a cute lil kiss between otp3 for it. It’ll hopefully be done around the time On The Horizon is updated. We’ll see, ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯, (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧. Remember, you can ask me anything or talk to me about anything throu the comments, Tumblr, or Twitter!

Allura smiled at the King and Queen who gave small coos to the fast asleep Lance in her arms. “So King Kanjigar, will you allow Nyma and Rolo to stay here for a few days to rest?” she asked and the King looked over at Queen Katzine who nodded agreement.

“Of course! And you and your Paladins may stay for a few days as well. It seems you should get some rest too,” Kanjigar said and Allura nodded. “Let’s show you to your rooms then!” he said and Allura smiled and waved to the Paladin’s. They walked up the stairs and a servant followed to make note of where everyone would be. They walked down the hall and soon stopped in front of a door. “Princess Allura, you and your brother shall stay here. Our daughter is one room down, you can ask her anything if you can’t find us or a servant,” he said and she nodded going into the room while they continued down.

The room had a antechamber that led to the bedroom. It was simply furnished with a desk, bookshelf and a couch next to a fireplace that consisted of glowing stones. She walked into the bedroom and saw opposite the door was a big, four poster bed with pink and blue sheets. Hanging from the posts and on top was a sheer fabric that was a silvery color. Next to the bed was a nightstand. To one side were double doors to what Allura could guess a closet. Opposite was a door to the bathroom.

Allura walked over to the bed and gently laid Lance down. She went over to the closet and saw that inside was two sets of pjs, one a nightgown for her, the other a sleepshirt and bottoms. She quickly changed into the nightgown before grabbing the other pjs and headed over to the bed. She changed Lance from the clothes Zarkon gave him and but him in the pjs before putting the old ones into the trash by the nightstand.

She then climbed into the bed beside him and pulled the covers over, moving her wing over both of them. After blocking them from the world, she pulled Lance close and wrapped her arms around him, sleep slowly taking.

**XXX**

Consciousness slowly weaved through Lance. A humm left Lance as he felt warm, something was wrapped around him making him humm since it was comfortable. He then opened his eyes and saw Allura’s peaceful face. A gasp left him and he burrowed further into her embrace. He wrapped his chubby arms around her body, a small whimper left his lips as he thought about what happened.

At his whimper, Allura stirred into consciousness and felt something small and warm wrapped around her stomach. She looked down and saw that Lance was wrapping his arms around her while whimpering. She slowly sat up, pulling Lance with so that she leaned against the headboard and he sat in her lap. “What’s wrong, Lance?” she asked and he looked up to her face, seeing worry written on her face.

“Unc said you were doing bad, that you a-and mom and d-dad caused Altea t-tu-to be d-destroyed,” Lance said stuttering as he continued as tears started flowing. Allura started to gently shush him while rocking side to side.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok. Everything is fine. Father didn’t cause Altea to be destroyed, Zarkon destroyed Altea in revenge for father destroying Daibazaal to close the rift. Zarkon isn’t the same like he was. He was corrupted by Haggar and being so close to the rift for so long. If they had closed the rift sooner and got rid of Haggar, this never would have happened,” Allura said and at that, Lance started crying harder. Allura saw the mice at the foot of the bed and nodded, pressing to them that they should get the other paladins.

The mice scurried off and she continued to rock the two of them while Lance continued sobbing into her shoulder. A knock sounded warning that someone was entering. The door opened showing the paladins in the rooms antechamber. She nodded to them and they entered the room, still in their borrowed pjs. The mice scurried from in front of them to the bed and they climbed up to head over to Lance. They curled up on his lap and shoulder, rubbing the heads against him in comfort. The paladins all climbed onto Allura’s bed and sat down around the royals. Both Shiro and Keith reached a hand out and placed it on Lance’s back, giving soothing rubs.

Lance’s sobs quited into sniffles and hiccups until there was just the occasional sniffle. He turned his head to the side and saw the paladins sitting around them and snuggled further into Allura’s embrace causing her to give a little giggle. “It’s all right, Lance. They’re your friends,” she said and he looked at her with confusion written plainly in his eyes.

“Really?” he asked softly and she nodded. He then looked at them and they all nodded at him with soft smiles.

“Hey, buddy. You probably don’t remember me, but I’m your best bud. While on Earth, we lived across from each other. The family that took you in loved you soooo much,” Hunk said and Lance tilted his head.

“Wow,” Lance responded and Hunk smiled as he reached over and ruffled Lance’s hair.

“Yeah, they all loved your wings too, said they were really pretty,” Hunk continued and this time everyone nodded agreement.

“Yeah, I was on your team at school. I didn’t like hanging out much since I was looking for my family but you always tried anyways. I really liked it when you got me out of the school and in town for some fresh air for a break. It definitely helped me,” Katie said with a fond smile at him while Lance gave a timid one in response.

“We don’t know each other much, but your buddy told me that you looked up to me. I’m not sure why you did but I’m always trying to be that person you saw that was worth looking up to,” Shiro said with a small smile and Lance had a small laugh leave.

“We had a rough start, you and me. But since coming here we’ve got along swell. It probably helped that the Red and Blue Lions being together helped us talk and get to know each other better,” Keith said and Lance looked at him intently, pulling out of Allura’s embrace as a tickle of a feeling entered his mind.

“You’re the Red Paladin?” he asked slowly and Keith nodded. “You…….you,” he stumbled over the words as he continued to move toward Keith on the bed. Once in front of Keith, he went onto his knees and placed his hands on Keith’s face, looking intently in his eyes. The itch grew into a nagging feeling and he soon felt Blue in his mind, prodding his memories. Blue seemed to then start clawing at his mind and a grimace appeared on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked rubbing his hands along Lance’s sides and back. Blue then stopped, satisfied then.

“K-keith?” Lance asked quietly and Keith smiled.

“Yeah, it’s me, Keith,” he responded with a smile. Keith then pulled Lance in for a quick hug before turning him to the others. “Can you remember them?” he asked and Lance turned to Shiro first, just knowing that he was a hero to him. “Shi-ro?” he asked and Shiro smiled at him, reaching over to ruffle his hair. “Kadee?” he asked looking at her.   
“Ka _ tie _ ,” she corrected but smiled none the less at him, reaching over and squeezing him before letting go. He then turned to the big guy. “Hunk?” he said uncertainly and Hunk gave a blinding smile, reaching over and pulling Lance gently from Keith to swallow him in a big hug. Lance relaxed in Hunk’s arms as the hug continued.

“Do you remember anything else?” Hunk asked once he let Lance go and let him sit in his lap.

“No,” he replied dejectedly.

“Hey, don’t feel bad, we got your memories back once, we can get them back again,” Allura said and Lance looked at her curiously.

“Again?” he asked.

“Yes, again. You lost your memory when you got struck. When you finally made your way back to me, you had very few memories of me. We helped you get your memories back. We can do it again. But you’ll probably have to stay like this until the magic wears off,” she said and Lance nodded, not fully understanding what his size meant but knew that his memory was off.

“What do you mean, ‘stay like this’?” Lance asked curiously.

“Oh, Haggar made a potion or something that changed you from your teens to the age you were when everything happened,” Allura explained.

“Yeah, buddy. You were 17, almost 18,” Hunk said and Lance slowly nodded.

“How about we go figure out how long you’ll stay like this then we can deal with your memories,” Allura said and everyone nodded. Hunk allowed Allura to grab Lance from his lap. They then left the room and made their way to the healing pods. She then placed Lance in one and pulled up a holograph. The pod did it’s scan then let him out, Keith was quick to pick Lance up and placed him on his hip. “Lance, it looks like this will last six more days at most,” she said and Lance nodded. “Now, let’s go get your memories back,” she said and Lance gave a smile as they all headed out, Coran meeting up with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this was short, but not like too short. It’s definitely shorter than normal for me. I hope you enjoyed it! And again, sorry bout the wait. Hopefully it won’t be that long of a wait again but no promises since I do have a few other stories I’m writing and then there’s also school. Ya. We’ll see. Love ya my awesome readers!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so long(ish) time no update! Sorry about that. But that’s gonna be the norm since I unearth a few old fics that haven’t been updated in what…..3 years?? Like dang, those readers are probably really happy they got a new chap finally. But ya, just warnin ya updates will prob be still slow, like once a month if lucky. LUV YA! And remember, you can talk to me or ask me anything throu the comments, Tumblr, or Twitter!!

Allura walked through the market with Lance on her hip, the Paladins beside her looking around with her. “So Lotor was in on it?” Lance asked and Allura nodded.

“Yes. He helped plan your rescue,” Allura said and Lance nodded.

“I…...why did Zarkon do that?” he asked and Allura shook her head.

“I’m not sure why he did it. Lotor seems to think Zarkon missed having the young you around,” Allura explained. Lance looked around the group as they all nodded agreement that they didn’t know.

“Enough of that. Let’s go look around! Who knows, maybe we’ll find some actual food,” Hunk said and everyone nodded agreement. They walk through the market and soon came across a food court. Venders were set up all over smiling and waving for people to come to their booth. They saw one that sold food that looked familiar for the Paladin’s and went over to it.

**XXX**

Zarkon glared at the men in front of him, they were the only survivors from the battle on Keilara. “Where are Lieutenant Thace and Prince Lance?” he demanded and the five soldiers looked at each other before one stepped forward.

“Lord Zarkon, Prince Lance was taken by the rebels. Lieutenant Thace was last seen falling to the ground protecting Prince Lance but didn’t move. We escaped after that since the Rebel forces would have either killed us like other soldiers they have taken or tried torturing us,” he said and Zarkon growled.

“You have failed to protect Prince Lance. You’ll be held in solitary for a phoeb,” Zarkon declared and two soldiers came and dragged the soldier away while the other four looked at Zarkon fearfully.

“As for you four, you are going to have an extra hour of training every day,” he said and the soldiers nodded then walked away when Zarkon waved them off. Zarkon then walked out of the room and looked out the window. He growled lowly  under his breath as he looked toward where Lance was last seen. “I will get you back, Lance,” he promised.

**XXX**

A laugh bubbled out of Lance as Allura put on a headband that had fox ears on top while making a silly face. Pidge joined in the laughing as she held Lance but they soon stopped laughing, smiles on their faces and eyes glassy from laughing too hard. “You look cute,” Lance said and Pidge nodded her agreement while the others were further in the store.

“You think so?” she asked and they nodded once more. “Then I’ll get it,” she said with a smile, “but we need to get you two something as well,” she finished and the two continued smiling since they were having fun. She then placed a rabbit ears headband on Pidge, one ear was flopping over and it was in a cool gray color. She then put a cat ears headband on Lance, it was rainbow colored.

“I’m Voltron!” he declared and the two girls laughed at that before calming down enough to walk into the store. The other paladins each had something in their hands they were gonna buy, Shiro had a gray jacket in hand, Keith had what appeared to be a whittling knife, and Hunk had a full cooking knife set that had the Voltron symbol on the case that had all of their colors on it.

The three smiled at them when they saw the headbands on their heads. Hunk went forward and pulled Lance from Pidge’s grip and swung him in a circle laughing. “You look so cute with those ears Lance!” he said before stopping and hugging Lance to his chest. Shiro ruffled Lance’s hair after taking the headband off with a fond look. Keith smirked at Lance before they all walked over to the owner to buy the items.

After buying all the items they left the store and continued walking through the market. They soon stopped by a place that sold what looked to be ice cream and bought that. They got a cup for Coran too and made their way back to the Castle of Lions finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this is SUPER short. I’m sorry. I wanted to update this fic but, I’m just not feeling it right now, and that is because of the fandom, specifically the klance fandom making klance hard to write right now. I’m sorry. This will be on an indefinite hold with sporadic updates just like my other fic, ‘The Assassin’. So because of that, I wanted to give you a fun little chap, I was hoping though to get to three pages, but I couldn’t think of anything and whenever I lose motivation, writing is hard. Again, I’m so sorry. But don’t fear, this is NOT gonna be abandoned. If you guys want, feel free to comment with something you want to happen and that could help me get a bit of motivation to do a chap. Love ya, my amazing readers! -Willa

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I just decided to end it here since if i kept going it would’ve become really, super long if i did the full hour episode. So episode one will be in three to four chaps.


End file.
